The horned, shirtless QAnon follower who stormed the U.S. Capitol buillding on Jan. 6 is now apologizing for “having aroused fear in the hearts of others” during the violent attack.
Jacob Chansley, known as Jake Angeli, became nationally infamous in part thanks to his attire during the failed coup, where he was photographed wearing buffalo horns and grossly appropriating indigenous culture. After failing to secure a pardon from Donald Trump, the pro-Trump rioter continues his campaign for mercy. Chansley released a statement through his attorney on Monday, apologizing for his role in the failed coup.
“I deeply regret and am very sorry I entered into the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021,” he wrote. “I should not have been there. Period. I am sorry for having aroused fear in the hearts of others. That was wrong. Period.”
Taken with a grain of salt, Chansley also admonishes Trump for letting “a lot of peaceful people down.”
“If you believe the government is correctly prosecuting the (former) president, you can’t at the same time hold criminally culpable those who were incited, because the people incited become victims,” his attorney Al Watkins said in an interview, according to the Associated Press.
The Arizona resident, who also appropriated the eastern tradition of ahimsa in his apology letter, was one of the first people to storm the Capitol building. He reportedly disobeyed orders by an officer to leave, refused to let officers use his bullhorn to tell rioters to leave, and threatened then-Vice President Mike Pence in a handwritten note.
Now he’s asking for people to “be patient with me and other peaceful people who, like me, are having a very difficult time piecing together all that happened to us, around us, and by us.”
Chansley was recently moved to a jail in Virginia to accommodate his request to be served organic food. He has pled not guilty to felony charges of civil disorder and obstructing an official proceeding and four misdemeanor charges.
