Twitter overlord Elon Musk confirmed sympathy on Friday for the Capitol rioter dubbed the “QAnon Shaman,” within the billionaire’s newest effort to downplay the lethal occasions of Jan. 6, 2021.
“Free Jacob Chansley,” Musk tweeted to his 130 million followers, apparently suggesting the rioter’s sentence was unwarranted.
Chansley had earned his nickname by raiding the U.S. Capitol bare-chested on Jan. 6 with a furry Viking-style hat and face paint, carrying an American flag zip-tied to a spear.
For making threats and disrupting Congress as its members tried to certify the outcomes of the 2020 election, Chansley received 41 months in jail, or simply shy of three and a half years.
He’s one in all 1,000 individuals to be arrested for his or her participation within the assault on the Capitol and the regulation enforcement officers defending it. Greater than 300 individuals have been charged with bodily assaulting or resisting officers or staff.
But Musk has not too long ago begun to advertise the false concept — pushed by Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Fox Information host Tucker Carlson and different conservatives — that the Capitol assault was really a largely peaceable occasion.
In a phase final week that was criticized by U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, amongst others, Carlson used selectively edited footage to make the breach appear far tamer than it really was.
Musk promoted the phase repeatedly on his Twitter web page with credulous commentary.
On Friday, Musk reacted to a video clip that confirmed Chansley utilizing a bullhorn to learn a tweet despatched by former President Donald Trump at round 3:15 p.m. on Jan. 6.
“Respect the Regulation and our nice women and men in Blue,” Trump wrote, as learn out by Chansley.
This, mixed with different footage that confirmed Chansley strolling alongside regulation enforcement by way of the halls of the Capitol, appeared to absolve him in Musk’s thoughts.
“Chansley received 4 years in jail for a non-violent, police-escorted tour!?” the Twitter and Tesla CEO marveled. (The sentence was lower than 4 years.) In one other tweet, Musk claimed Chansley “was falsely portrayed within the media as a violent prison who tried to overthrow the state and who urged others to commit violence.”
“I’m not a part of MAGA, however I do consider in equity of justice,” he added.
Chansley pleaded responsible to expenses of civil dysfunction, disorderly and disruptive conduct, violent entry to a constructing, and different counts at his November 2021 sentencing listening to. Prosecutors mentioned he pushed previous a police barrier to enter the Capitol and made his technique to the Senate ground, the place he shouted “Mike Pence is a fucking traitor” from the dais, and led different protesters in a chant in opposition to “all of the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists.”
He additionally left a be aware: “It’s Solely A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!”