The Department of Justice must return the horned helmet and spear “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley sported while taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, a judge has ruled.
Chansley, who was sentenced to more than three years in prison for his actions during the attack, asked the government to return the property it confiscated in May: a horned coyote-tail headdress and a pole with an American flag zip-tied to it and metal spearhead. He won an early release in March 2023.
The DOJ argued that the items, which were “used to project strength during the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” should remain in federal custody. The Justice Department also said Chansley had challenged his conviction and sentence after previously expressing regret for storming the building.
Jacob Chansley
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, rioters who supported President Donald Trump, including Jacob Chansley, are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
D.C. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled Monday the items should be returned.
“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,” 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 and ‘the United States’ legitimate interests can be satisfied even if the property is returned’,” he wrote.
The federal investigation into the Capitol breach has led to more than 1,000 arrests and hundreds of convictions.
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