“QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley has been released 14 months early from prison and sent to a halfway house, prison officials confirmed Thursday. Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for “violent entry” of the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 riot, where he became known for his horned fur headdress and red-white-and-blue face paint. His release comes just weeks after Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired previously unreleased footage of Chansley being escorted around the capitol by police.
Chansley, a U.S. Navy veteran, pleaded guilty to charges relating to the January 6 riot in September 2021. He had spent 27 months behind bars at the time of his early release. His lawyer, Albert Watkins, applauded the decision in a statement Thursday morning,
“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. I applaud the decision of the US Bureau of Prison in this regard.”
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Watkins had previously demanded Chansley be released in light of video evidence aired by Fox News host Tucker Carlson in early March. Surveillance footage from the Capitol on January 6 showed Chansley accompanied by a police escort as he toured the building–and can be seen thanking the officers. At one point in the video, as many as nine officers could be seen with Chansley, with none attempting to stop him from touring the Capitol.
Jacob Chansley's Former Attorney Albert Watkins says exculpatory evidence was withheld from his client. pic.twitter.com/CxStlyQqQ4
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 9, 2023
Despite the close timing, another lawyer for Chansley, Bill Shipley, indicated on Twitter that the decision to send his client to a halfway house was a matter of federal prison policy.
“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. [Bureau of Prisons] 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… He’s exactly where we both expected he would be. The Tucker revelations are significant but Jake can’t get the time back”
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
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During his sentencing in 2021, Chansley told the court that he was “wrong for entering the Capitol” but insisted that he is “in no way, shape or form a violent criminal… no way a domestic terrorist.”
“I’m a good man who broke the law… I am truly repentant for my actions.”
Since his arrest, Chansley has disavowed the QAnon conspiracy theory and says that he is no longer a supporter of Donald Trump, according to his attorney. During a court-ordered psychological evaluation in May 2021, Chansley claimed to be “directly related to Jesus and Buddha.”
In a tweet, Shipley stated that Chansley would offer a public comment “when it is the right time to do so.”
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