The man who, for leftists, symbolized the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol has been released from jail, just a few weeks after video of the right disrupted the dominant liberal media narrative.
The Washington Times reported Thursday that Jacob Chansley, otherwise known as the QAnon Shaman, was released and sent to a halfway house in Phoenix 14 months before his sentence expired.
Chansley was best known for marching through the Capitol, shirtless and clad in a buffalo headdress.
Chansley was held up by the liberal media as the symbol of the threat to overthrow the U.S. government following former President Donald Trump’s rally that day.
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But videos of the riot that Republican House Speaker Keving McCarthy released to Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson painted a different story than the one told about Chansley by prosecutors and the media.
Instead of instigating a violent coup attempt, the videos showed Capitol Police officers calmly and peacefully escorting Chansley throughout the facility.
Federal prosecutors did not share the videos with Chansley’s lawyer, in violation of rules of evidence.
The Times reported that Chansley’s lawyer, Albert Watkins, now seeks sanctions against the Department of Justice.
“The DOJ created and implemented a systemically flawed discovery production protocol for which there is simply no excuse. “The government had a duty to release material video footage, not just video footage that supported the government’s prosecutorial narrative,” he told the Times.
“The government failed to discharge this absolute duty, and for that, significant sanctions are appropriate and necessary to send a strong message that courts have zero tolerance for this egregious injustice.”
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“After serving 11 months in solitary before 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,” Watkins added. “I applaud the decision of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in this regard.”
Oddly, Watkins insisted that the video of his client did not factor in his client’s early release from prison. He attributed that to routine protocols of the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Chansley is set to be released from the halfway house on May 25.
Yet some Republicans in Congress argued the video did help Chansley.
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called Chansley’s release “amazing,” the Times noted.
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“I give a lot of credit to Speaker McCarthy for releasing those videos,” she told the Times. “If he hadn’t released those tapes and Tucker Carlson hadn’t put it out, people wouldn’t have seen the truth, and I think that played a big role.”
“I hope he sues everyone that assassinated his character and lied about him,” Greene added.
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