Video shows Arizona’s horned rioter writing Pence threat, leading prayer
Jan 19, 2021, 2:12 PM | Updated: 2:59 pm
PHOENIX – Video released by The New Yorker over the weekend shows Arizona’s horn-wearing “QAnon Shaman” writing a threatening note to Vice President Mike Pence and leading fellow supporters of President Donald Trump in prayer inside the Senate chamber.
The magazine on Sunday published a 12-minute compilation of footage taken by reporter Luke Mogelson, who documented the mob outside and inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Jacob Chansley, aka Jake Angeli, plays a prominent role in the video, including the note-writing moment cited by federal prosecutors in a court brief last week.
With his flamboyant appearance and bellowing voice, Chansley, 33, has become a symbol of the violent insurrection that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.
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Before then, the rabid promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory had been a fixture at Trump rallies and various protests in Phoenix, impossible to miss with his furry horned hat, face paint, tattoo-covered bare torso and bullhorn.
The New Yorker video shows Chansley lingering behind the desk where Pence had been presiding while the Senate deliberated over the Electoral College results.
Chansley poses for photos before writing something down on a piece of paper that had been left on Pence’s desk.
(YouTube Screenshot/The New Yorker)
He displays the note in front Mogelson’s phone camera and reads it: “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming!”
In a brief filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, federal prosecutors used the note as part of their argument for keeping Chansley in custody.
Prosecutors considered the note a threat to Pence, although Chansley told investigators it wasn’t, according to the brief.
A judge agreed that Chansley should remain in detention until his trial.
The New Yorker video also shows Chansley using his bullhorn to lead a rambling prayer “in Christ’s holy name.” Shortly after starting, he stops to take off his headdress and the knit cap he wore underneath it.
Many of the intruders milling about the Senate chambers bow their heads during the 75-second invocation, some removing their red caps, and then punctuate it with an “Amen!”
Pence and other congressional leaders had been ushered out of the chamber by the Secret Service and Capitol Police before the rioters stormed into the room.
According to the prosecutors’ brief, Chansley said in a phone call to the FBI on Jan. 7 that “he was glad he sat in the Vice President’s chair because Vice President Pence is a child-trafficking traitor.”
Chansley was indicted by a grand jury on six charges on Jan. 8 for his role in the incursion. He was arrested the next day after he went to the Phoenix FBI office for questioning and has remained in custody.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
