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- Prosecutors for "QAnon Shaman" Jacob Chansley asked for a 51-month prison sentence, the harshest thus far in the Capitol insurrection cases.
- It comes after attorneys for Chansley asked for his release with time served, claiming that he needs to address his mental health issues.
- Chansley was one of the first rioters to breach the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and became a widely recognized figure of the insurrectionists.
The Justice Department is asking for Jacob Chansley, also known as the QAnon Shaman, to be sentenced to over four years in prison for his involvement in the January 6 Captiol insurrection.
It is the longest sentence requested by prosecutors for guilty Jan. 6 defendants, CNN reported.
"What should have been a day in which Congress fulfilled its solemn, constitutional duty in certifying the vote count of the Electoral College, ensuring the peaceful transition of power in our nation, was disrupted by a mob of thousands on January 6, 2021. And this defendant was, quite literally, their flagbearer," attorney Matthew Graves wrote of Chansley in a court filing asking for a 51-month prison sentence.
Chansley, who has spent the last ten months in jail, is due to be sentenced on November 17. In September, he pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction.
A lawyer for Chansley asked on Tuesday for his client's release with time served, referring to Chansley as "a kid, really" with mental health struggles, Insider's Erin Snodgrass reported. The sentencing memo opened with a quote from Forrest Gump about putting "the past behind you before you can move on."
In contrast, the prosecution's sentencing memo opened with a quote from Chansley that he bellowed from the Senate Dias on January 6 inside the Capitol.
"Thank you Heavenly Father for gracing us with this opportunity...to allow us to send a message to all the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists, that this is our nation, not theirs. That we will not allow America, the American way of the United States of America to go down," Chansley said from the dias, according to the sentencing document.
The memo goes on to describe how Chansley used social media in the months leading up to the insurrection to post messages about voter fraud "aimed at stoking his followers." On January 6, the documents note, Chansley was among the first to enter the Capitol, bringing with him a "six-foot spear." He was also demanded "to see lawmakers" and left "a threatening note for the Vice President of the United States."
"Chansley used his bullhorn to stoke the passions of other rioters around him, to spew obscenities and threats in the Senate gallery, and to give the terrifying invocation upon the Senate dais to the gathered rioters about removing the traitors within the government," the sentencing memo said.
Prosecutors are seeking a 51-month sentence with three years of supervised release and a $2,000 fine in restitution, adding that the sentence would "serve to protect the community, punish the defendant for his criminal conduct, and deter others from committing similar offenses."
"The sentence of this Court must drive home this fact for this defendant, and any others who may wish to emulate him: crimes committed against this country and democracy will be prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law," Graves wrote in the sentencing memo.
So far, nearly 700 people have been arrested in connection to the Capitol siege, and more than 100 have pleaded guilty.