Jake Angeli, the 'QAnon shaman' and US Capitol raider, can get back his furry hat

A federal judge has decided that Jake Angeli, the so-called QAnon shaman, is entitled to have back the furry horned hat he wore when he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The FBI had seized the hat, along with a spear, upon Angeli’s arrest the week after the riot at the U.S. Capitol. The items were in his vehicle. Angeli had planned to don his signature get-up and protest at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix after what he thought was a simple follow-up meeting with agents.

Instead, Angeli, charged under his legal name Jacob Chansley, was held in federal custody for more than two years.

Angeli initially asked the court for his property back in May, though his filing didn’t detail what the items were. But the judge’s ruling on Monday made it clear what the government should return to Angeli: his spear and his helmet.

The government had resisted returning the items saying it might need to hold on to them in case there are further legal proceedings against Angeli. But the judge said that even if the government needed to prosecute its case against Angeli anew, there was voluminous evidence of his actions.

“Images of him at the Capitol on that day abound,” Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in his ruling.

On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Angeli praised the ruling. "Judge Lamberth has my respect & gratitude," he wrote. "his ruling is just & impartial. He is simply requiring the government to follow the law as it is written."

Aided by his attire, Angeli became the painted face of the invasion of the U.S. Capitol. Angeli joined thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump who stormed into the building aiming to pressure Congress to not officially certify the 2020 election for President Joe Biden.

Angeli was bare-chested despite the D.C. winter chill, showing off elaborate shamanistic tattoos. His face was painted red, white and blue. He carried a spear from which hung an American flag. And he wore a Viking helmet with horns and fur tails cascading past his shoulders.

Angeli was one of the first people to enter the U.S. Capitol. The judge in the case said that Angeli “literally spearheaded” the entry of others.

Angeli briefly took the dais of the U.S. Senate and left a note for then-Vice President Mike Pence. It said, “It’s only a matter of time. Justice is coming.”

Angeli pleaded guilty to a single charge of obstructing a federal proceeding. The judge sentenced him to 41 months in prison. Angeli was granted early release to a halfway house before he was eventually freed in May 2023.

Angeli has since asked the court to discharge him from his three-year probation, citing his spotless record in the year since his release. Angeli, according to a notation from the judge in the case, has also found a stable residence, a job and was married.

On his first day of release, Angeli returned to the Arizona State Capitol in a version of his signature outfit, complete with a replacement furry hat. Instead of a spear, Angeli carried a tom-tom. With him was a camera crew that captured his poses.

Angeli has been a regular presence outside the Arizona Capitol for years.

As early as 2019, he made a habit of holding one-man protests on the plaza between the state’s legislative buildings and the tower that holds the governor’s office.

He would also show up at protests of all stripes, or working the crowd outside Trump rallies during the 2020 campaign.

He would carry a sign that said “Q Sent Me,” and espouse the false QAnon theory.

That conspiracy supposed that a federal agent with top-secret “Q-level” clearance was posting obscure clues about sinister happenings within the government. Adherents coalesced on a narrative: A cabal of global leaders, who sometimes drank the blood of children, would be exposed and arrested by Trump.

Trump left office without making any such arrests.

Trump also left office without issuing a pardon for Angeli. His attorney made a public request for a pardon before the Oval Office changed hands on Jan. 20, 2021.

Although he was tagged as the QAnon Shaman, Angeli never took to that nickname. He has since called himself America's Shaman.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling this year has left a possible legal opening for Angeli to contest his conviction, though.

The high court, in a case called Fischer v. United States, said the government had misinterpreted the statute in bringing cases charging individuals for obstructing an official proceeding. The crime, the court ruled, only applied to tampering or destroying a document.

The plea agreement in the case said that the government could pursue other charges against Angeli should he successfully contest his conviction. Those charges, dropped as part of his plea agreement, included civil disorder, demonstrating in a Capitol building and disruptive conduct in a place where the Vice President was being guarded by Secret Service.

In any subsequent case, prosecutors would be able to use Angeli’s statements in court against him.

Angeli told the court during his sentencing that he took responsibility for his actions with “no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”

Though he also said that he was “in no way, shape or form a dangerous criminal. I'm not a domestic terrorist. I'm not an insurrectionist. I'm a good man who broke the law," he said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jake Angeli, 'QAnon shaman' who raided US Capitol, gets back furry hat