OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” has been released from prison, according to his lawyers.
Chansley, who was famously at the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one felony charge regarding his involvement with the Capitol riot and was sentenced to 41 months in prison.
His lawyer, Bill Shipley, early Thursday morning: “For the record: Jake is out on schedule. I told him 16 months ago in our first conversation it would be Feb. or Mar. 2023. BOP math. I didn’t do anything extraordinary–this was always the schedule, I just understood it and could explain it to him. He was expecting 12 more mos.”
“But this is why the trust level between us is solid. I told him the truth, and I told him what would happen. We made several decisions after long discussions. He’s exactly where we both expected he would be. The Tucker revelations are significant but Jake can’t get the time back. Understanding the schedule, we agreed to not rush our next step. Let’s get accurate info on the videos, evaluate our options, then make a plan. I could have rushed it out and run to the cameras. But that wasn’t the right choice,” he added in subsequent tweets.
“After serving eleven months in solitary prior to his sentence being imposed, and only 16 months of his sentence thereafter, it is appropriate this gentle and intelligent young man be permitted to move forward with the next stage of what undoubtedly will be a law-abiding and enriching life,” attorney Albert Watkins said in a statement. “I applaud the decision of the U.S. Bureau of Prison in this regard.”
U.S. Bureau of Prisons records list Chansley’s current location as RRM Phoenix, a “Residential Reentry Management field office.”
“Although the BOP doesn’t list the specific facility where Chansley is housed, it is likely he is staying at a nearby Residential Reentry Center (RRC). According to the bureau, RRCs, also known as halfway houses, ‘provide assistance to inmates who are nearing release,'” Law & Crime reported.
For the record:
Jake is out on schedule. I told him 16 months ago in our first conversation it would be Feb. or Mar. 2023.
BOP math.
I didn't do anything extraordinary–this was always the schedule, I just understood it and could explain it to him.
He was expecting 12 more mos.— Shipwreckedcrew.substack.com (@shipwreckedcrew) March 30, 2023
Understanding the schedule, we agreed to not rush our next step. Let's get accurate info on the videos, evaluate our options, then make a plan.
I could have rushed it out and run to the cameras. But that wasn't the right choice.
If only his trial lawyer had done the same.
— Shipwreckedcrew.substack.com (@shipwreckedcrew) March 30, 2023
His release coincides with Fox News Tucker Carlson airing new footage this month on his Fox News program from the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The chief of the U.S. Capitol Police issued a memo to his staff on Tuesday following the airing of previously unseen security footage by Carlson, which showed police officers appearing to stand passively as a large crowd entered the Capitol that day.
Police Chief Tom Manger condemned the comments made during the airing of the footage on Carlson’s Monday night program, stating that it was “filled with offensive and misleading conclusions” about the riot of January 6, 2021, when a group of people breached the U.S. Capitol building, causing disruptions to lawmakers who were in the process of certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“The program conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video,” Manger claimed. “The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.”
Manger noted that Capitol Police “maintains, as anyone with common sense would, that had Officer Sicknick not fought valiantly for hours on the day he was violently assaulted, Officer Sicknick would not have died the next day.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and a group of other GOP lawmakers visited the Washington, D.C., jail on Friday, where defendants arrested after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot are being held and awaiting trial, some for close to two years.
The lawmakers referred to the detainees as “political prisoners” and expressed concerns about the poor conditions in which they were being held, according to a report by The New York Times.
“They told us stories of being denied medical treatment,” Greene told reporters following the tour. “They told us stories of assault. They told us stories of being threatened with rape.”
In December 2021, Greene released a report sharing her observations from her visit to the D.C. Jail in November of that year. In it, she noted that an inmate had reported being beaten by fellow detainees and not receiving adequate care.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said Republicans should take credit for the improved conditions since they have repeatedly checked on the defendants, though there were some Democrats in attendance on Friday, the Times said.
“They said in the last month or so, since we took back Congress, that it’s gotten better,” Luna told reporters. “But they said they cleaned it up nicely in the last few days since they knew that we were coming.”
