Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. It was a memorable image: a shirtless, tattooed man wearing a headdress of fur and horns, face painted in red and white, storming into the Senate chamber in the Capitol building in Washington, DC. In one hand, a megaphone, in the other, a six-foot-long spear adorned with the American flag.
This was the suddenly famous Jacob Chansley, one of the first rioters to force their way past overwhelmed police and into the seat of the US government on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, two months after Donald Trump had lost the 2020 presidential election and refused to concede defeat. Chansley, also known as the QAnon Shaman, made his way to a dais where, just minutes before, vice president Mike Pence had been standing. Surrounded by rioters who included right-wing militia and white nationalist extremists, Chansley held what was later described as a conspiracy-laden prayer session.
“Thank you for allowing the United States of America to be reborn,” he said. “Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists, the globalists and the traitors within our government.” The bizarre, shocking and ultimately fatal events of January 6 were more than a riot.
This was an insurrection: a violent, organised attempt to overthrow or disrupt the operations of the legislature. It was the first time the Capitol building had been stormed since British troops set it on fire using torches and gunpowder paste .