January 6 rioter ‘QAnon Shaman’ to get his headdress and spear back, judge rules

US Capitol rioter Jacob Chansley, known as the “QAnon Shaman” for his elaborate garb on January 6, 2021, will get back the spear he carried inside the building as well as his horned, coyote-tailed headdress, a judge ruled on Monday.

Judge Royce Lamberth’s order resolves one of the residual questions of the riot related to some of its most indelible images.

The Justice Department in recent weeks had been at odds with Chansley on who should continue to possess the items. The federal government had seized them around his arrest, but Chansley has served much of his criminal sentence for the felony charge related to the riot.

Prosecutors had tried to convince Lamberth, of the DC District Court, they needed to keep the items as evidence in case Chansley tries to challenge his conviction again. The Justice Department floated to the court the idea of keeping the items as part of a civil forfeiture, but hadn’t taken steps to do that, according to the court record.

“Even if the government may need to reprove Mr. Chansley’s guilt, the government has not explained why it would need his property,” Lamberth wrote. “As there is voluminous video and photo evidence of Mr. Chansley’s conduct, his property is of little utility for an investigation or prosecution.”

Chansley pleaded guilty to a felony obstruction charge and was sentenced to 41 months in prison in 2021. He has finished serving his prison time but has two years left of court-supervised release.

Pictures of Chansley went viral almost four years ago when the Arizonan during the riot flexed his muscles on the Senate dais where then-Vice President Mike Pence had been minutes before.

The headdress, as well as his bare chest and face paint, have been mimicked by other supporters of Donald Trump and Capitol rioters since then, including among some who protested Trump’s recent hush money criminal trial in New York.

In addition to the costume, Chansley had used a bullhorn to lead parts of the crowd, according to his court case. Though he was non-violent, Lamberth has noted the six-foot pole Chansley carried with an American flag attached and a spear on the top was a “serious weapon.”

Chansley expressed remorse for his actions during his sentencing hearing with Lamberth.