A federal judge ruled on Monday that January 6 rioter Jacob Chansley, aka the infamous “QAnon Shaman,” is entitled to have his iconic buffalo-horned helmet and spear-tipped flagpole returned by the Department of Justice after they were confiscated as evidence. Chansely, who served a 41-month prison sentence for his role in the Capitol riot, requested earlier this year that his items be returned, disputing the DOJ’s claims that they needed to be held as evidence indefinitely.
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“Mr. Chansley has completed his prison sentence and much of his term of supervised release. Now, he has moved for the return of his property seized and still held by the government, including his spear and helmet,” Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in his decision. “Since the government has not established that it still needs these items as evidence and has not sought their forfeiture, the Court will grant Mr. Chansley’s motion.”
Government documents describe the items in question as a “horned coyote-tail headdress” and “a six-foot pole with an American flag ziptied to the shaft and a metal spearhead fixed to the top,” which were “used to project strength during the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
Chansley, one of the most recognizable individuals who took part in the January 6 riot, was among the first to be sentenced in connection with the day’s violence. In September 2021, he pled guilty to one count of obstruction of an official proceeding and remained in prison until March 2023. He was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. Since his release, he has expressed remorse for his actions at the Capitol, which factored into the court’s decision to return his items.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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