Judge refuses QAnon Shaman’s third attempt to get out of jail

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A federal judge has refused the “QAnon Shaman’s” third request to be released from jail, saying the accused Capitol rioter still poses a flight risk.

A lawyer for Jacob Chansley, who infamously wore an animal headdress into the Capitol during the 6 January insurrection, had asked that his client be permitted to stay with family members in Phoenix, Arizona.

On Monday, Judge Royce Lamberth turned down that request.

“As Chansley’s family connections have not prevented him from traveling undetected in the past, the court is unpersuaded that they will prevent him from doing so again in the future,” the judge wrote.

On the day of the Capitol riot, Mr Chansley, 33, was filmed wandering into the United States Senate Chamber, where he posed for photos in a horned hat and face paint and left a note for then-vice president Mike Pence.

“It’s only a matter of time,” the note read. “Justice is coming!”

Mr Chansley was arrested three days later. He has been indicted on six different federal charges, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Mr Chansley’s lawyer, Albert Watkins, has argued that his client has mental health problems, and believed he was obeying former president Donald Trump’s orders when he entered the Capitol.

He also maintains that throughout the riot, Mr Chansley’s actions were peaceful.

“He was not violent. He did not assault. He did not steal or destroy while he was in the Capitol,” Mr Watkins told Reuters.

As Judge Lamberth has repeatedly pointed out, however, Mr Chansley was carrying what appeared to be a spear during the mob attack. Mr Watkins has contested that description, saying the object was merely a flagpole with a pointy ornament at the top.

In May, the judge ordered that Mr Chansley be given a psychological evaluation at a “suitable facility for a competency examination”. The next month, Mr Chansley was sent to a facility in Colorado for that exam, and Mr Watkins has said the results are coming soon.

If the attorney can prove that Mr Chansley is not mentally competent, he may be able to save him from serving a lengthy prison sentence, but Mr Chansley would likely be treated at a hospital within a federal prison.

The “QAnon Shaman” is one of hundreds of accused participants in the 6 January attack, during which a large mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Last month, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that 500 people had been arrested in connection to the riot.