He’s the painted face of the Capitol building rioters.
In the midst of the flag-waving violence and total chaos inside the Washington landmark, loud and proud QAnon advocate Jake Angeli was impossible to miss.
The 32-year-old Arizona man, known as the “QAnon Shaman,” stood front and center at Wednesday’s assault on democracy as rioters seized control of the building for hours. Angeli, shirtless and sporting a horned fur hat, was photographed standing behind Vice President Pence’s desk after legislators were forced to flee the presidential election hearing by the horde of rioters egged on by President Trump.
Angelia is a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist who made the trip to Washington for the rally-turned riot. He’s a regular at Trump gatherings in his home state, and he entered the Capitol carrying a bullhorn and an American flag on a spear.
QAnon’s true believers claim, among other things, that Washington politicians are running a child sex-trafficking ring.
While Angeli posed for photos standing behind Pence’s desk, an Arkansas man instead broke into the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, put his feet up on her desk and and left behind “a nasty note” for the Democrat. Richard Barnett, 60, told The New York Times that he only departed after police blasted him with pepper spray.
Barnett, after coming to Washington from Gravette, Ark., said he stole an envelope with Pelosi’s letterhead from the desk, leaving behind a quarter to cover its cost. The rioter claimed he was pushed into Pelosi’s office by the crowd in the hallway, though he acknowledged the tale was unlikely to appease law enforcement.
“I’ll probably be telling them this is what happened all the way to the D.C. jail,” he acknowledged.
