One of the key participants in the January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol Building is now offering to testify at former President Donald Trump's upcoming impeachment trial.
Lawyer Albert Watkins said his client, Jacob Chansley, also known as the "QAnon Shaman," is willing to provide insight as someone who was incited by Trump, the Associated Press reports.
Chansley, who was infamously spotted wearing horns and face paint while holding a megaphone during the riots, is said to have been "horrendously smitten" by Trump at the time, but now feels betrayed by the former president's refusal to grant him and others a pardon after being arrested for the insurrection, according to his lawyer.
“He felt like he was betrayed by the president,” Watkins told the AP.
Watkins said he has not yet spoken to any member of the Senate since offering his client's testimony at the upcoming trial, but Chansley and other participants' words could be used against the former president.
The AP reports at least four other individuals facing federal charges in relation to the insurrection have now suggested that they acted in accordance with orders from Trump.
Chansley has not entered a plea to charges of civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, demonstrating in a Capitol building and other counts, but is scheduled to be arraigned in Washington on Friday (January 29), according to the AP.
Prosecutors said Chansley, who also goes by "Jacob Angeli," went into the Capitol carrying a U.S. flag attached to a wooden pole topped with a spear, ignoring demands by Capitol officers to leave the building and entered the Senate chamber, leaving a threatening note to then-Vice President Mike Pence after Trump criticized his former running mate for not objecting to President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Chansley has been a fixture at previous Trump rallies and admitted to investigators that he went to the Capitol "at the request of the president that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6," according to court records obtained by the AP.
Earlier this month, protesters supporting President Trump stormed the United States Capitol amid the vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election, which led to the death of five individuals and forced elected officials to evacuate the House and Senate chambers before later continuing session in the evening.
An announcement was made inside the Capitol ordering lawmakers to evacuate due to "an external security threat" as dozens of protesters forced their way inside the building, the Associated Press reports.
Both chambers were sent into recess and later resumed at around 8:00 p.m. EST to confirm the nomination of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
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