'QAnon Shaman' from Jan. 6 riot wants his furry horned hat and spear back. Here's why the feds said no

Jake Angeli, the so-called "QAnon Shaman" whose signature attire made him the face of the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, wants his furry horned hat and spear back.

The government, so far, is not inclined to return them.

Those items, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday, might serve as evidence in a future court proceeding because a U.S. Supreme Court ruling could allow Angeli to contest his conviction.

Angeli pleaded guilty to a felony and was imprisoned. He was released last year. But the Supreme Court on June 28 said federal prosecutors misapplied the law in some Jan. 6 cases, including his. Angeli’s attorney, William Shipley, did not respond to an emailed question on Friday as to whether Angeli would ask for a reversal of his conviction.

When Angeli was arrested by FBI agents in Phoenix days after the riot, they seized his horned hat and spear. The items were in his car. Angeli told agents he planned to don them and protest outside the Arizona Capitol.

Before he became a symbol of the U.S. Capitol riot, Angeli was a known quantity in and around the Phoenix area.

As early as 2019, he appeared at protests — including sometimes solo protests — with a painted face, and wearing tan sackcloth pants and his horned hat with fur tails cascading past his shoulders. He was shirtless, showing off elaborate tattoos that he said had a deep shamanistic meaning.

Angeli espoused elements of the bizarre 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 on online bulletin boards. Adherents coalesced on a narrative: A cabal of global leaders, who sometimes drank the blood of children, would be exposed and arrested by Trump.

That did not come to pass.

Jake Angeli: From the Arizona Capitol to the Jan. 6 riot in Washington

Angeli, along with thousands of other Trump supporters, traveled to Washington, D.C., for a Trump speech at the Ellipse on Jan. 6. It was the day that a Joint Session of Congress was gaveled in to follow the constitutionally-prescribed procedure for certifying presidential election results.

Angeli, whose getup made him easily identifiable in video footage, was one of the first to enter the U.S. Capitol. A federal judge said 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. He wrote, “It’s only a matter of time. Justice is coming.”

After Trump posted a message asking his supporters to leave the U.S. Capitol, Angeli was seen on video footage encouraging people to get out.

3 years later: Here's what happened to the Arizonans who were at the US Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot

Angeli, who was charged under his legal name — Jacob Chansley — pleaded guilty in September 2021. He was released from a halfway house in May 2023.

His first stop upon release was the Arizona Capitol. He brought along photographers for a photo shoot. Angeli wore a similar furry hat and bright yellow pants. Instead of a spear, he carried a drum and tom-tom.

He has since carried on an active presence on social media and as a guest on various online talk shows. He started a website that offered one-on-one consultations. He also sold T-shirts featuring his image. A check of the website on Friday showed the apparel was sold out and no longer available.

How the Supreme Court ruling affected Angeli's sentence

Angeli was among dozens of Jan. 6 defendants charged with obstructing an official proceeding.

But the Supreme Court, in a case called Fischer v. United States, said the government had misinterpreted the statute in bringing those cases. The crime, the court ruled, only applied to tampering or destroying a document that would be used in an official proceeding.

Under his plea agreement, the government could pursue other charges against Angeli should he successfully contest his conviction. Those charges included civil disorder, demonstrating in a Capitol building and disruptive conduct in a place where the vice president was guarded by Secret Service.

In any subsequent case, prosecutors could use Angeli’s statements in court against him. He told the court at his sentencing that he took responsibility for his actions with “no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

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."

Prosecutors in the Friday filing said they would ask to hold on the hat and spear as evidence until Angeli “assures the Court there will be no further challenges to his criminal conviction.”

Though, prosecutors said, even after that the government would consider seizing the property through civil forfeiture.

Angeli asked the court to order the return of his property in May, though his filing didn’t specify what the property was. The judge agreed to hold off on a decision until the Supreme Court ruling in the Fischer case.

The government filing Friday was the first mention of the specific items. They were described as “a spear and a helmet used to project strength during the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

Angeli also has 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, also has found a stable residence, a job and was married.

A marriage license under Angeli’s legal name didn't appear in Maricopa County records. His attorney also did not reply to a request for details on the nuptials, or his employment.

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8473 or richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jake Angeli, 'QAnon Shaman' of Jan. 6, won't get fur hat, spear back