The ‘QAnon Shaman’, who became the face of the US Capitol riots, has turned against US President Donald Trump and said he will run for Arizona governor.
Jacob Angeli-Chansley, who prefers to be known as Jake Angeli, was pictured painted in red, white and blue among the rioters who stormed the building on 6 January 2021, wearing a fur headdress with horns.
He also carried a spear draped in the American flag and shouted into a bullhorn.
Mr Angeli was jailed for 41 months, which was the toughest sentence handed out in around 675 riot prosecutions, with prosecutors describing him as the “public face of the Capitol riot“.
He served 27 months before being released early for good behaviour in 2023 – and he was pardoned by Mr Trump when he took office on 20 January last year, along with others convicted or charged over the riots.
Now, Mr Angeli, 38, said he has turned his back on Mr Trump and will run for governor in his home state of Arizona in November. He plans to run as an independent.
Mr Angeli told The Times: “All warfare is based on deception and the American people have had war declared on them.”
He added: “Since I’m one of the only people that seem to have their wits about them and understand what’s actually going on in the world, it is up to me, as far as I’m concerned, to do something about these problems.”
He went on to describe the current Trump administration as “a corrupt disaster” – citing its relationship with Israel and behaviour over the Jeffrey Epstein files.
On the dramatic removal of Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro by US special forces last week, Mr Angeli accused Mr Trump of “essentially using the American military to commit the armed robbery of a nation”.
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On the US president’s actions since returning to office, he told the newspaper the Trump administration was “just lies, bro, because they’re Israel First”, adding: “We don’t have our own government.”
During his sentencing hearing in 2021, Mr Angeli expressed remorse for his “indefensible” actions on 6 January 2021. His lawyer, Albert Watkins, also told a court hearing that Mr Angeli no longer wanted to be known as the “QAnon Shaman”, according to a report at the time by Sky News’ US partner network NBC.
