The lawyer who represented the ‘QAnon Shaman’ at his trial for storming the Capitol on January 6 has called for his client to be released after Tucker Carlson broadcast never-before-seen footage of the riots.
On Monday night, Carlson used his Fox News show to broadcast clips showing the so-called shaman, Jacob Chansley, inside Congress.
Chansley appears to be escorted through the building by Capitol Police officers, while other officers allow the chest-baring Trump supporter wearing a horn to pass. Carlson used the footage to argue that the rioters were “tourists” and “mostly peaceful.”
Chansley pleaded guilty in September 2021 to civil disorder and breaking into the Capitol, among other charges. He was sentenced two months later to three and a half years in prison, and the new footage leads to claims that he was unfairly portrayed as a violent trespasser.
On Wednesday night, Chansley’s former lawyer said he had not been shown the footage broadcast by Carlson, which the conservative newscaster said was “clearly exculpatory”.
Albert Watkins (right) represented Jacob Chansley in court. Chansley pleaded guilty, Watkins said, unaware that there was footage showing him inside the Capitol.
Chansley is seen being followed through the Capitol by a police officer.
“We went to extraordinary lengths on behalf of our client to put him in a position of knowledge,” said Albert Watkins, Chansley’s former lawyer.
‘That is my duty as an agent of the court, to make sure that he knew everything the government had, good and bad, to put him in that position, to make an informed, informed and voluntary decision about whether to go to trial or accept a plea. appeal.’
Watkins said it was shocking that the government knew Chansley was “not violent” but did not share the images.
“The government knew about it,” Watkins said.
‘They knew that Jake had walked with all these policemen. They had that video. I did not understand it. It was not revealed to me. They didn’t provide it to me.
I asked for it. I presented the necessary arguments for it. Whether I did or not, they had a duty, an absolute duty, with zero discretion to give it to me so I could share it with my client.
Watkins said that Chansley “had tremendous intelligence”, noting that 15 years earlier he had been diagnosed with mental health problems.
Watkins said he was ‘very nice; very, very eloquent.
He added: ‘It’s a tragedy. What happened is truly a dagger to the heart of our American justice system.
We can’t allow it.
“This is about our justice system being so compromised, that the integrity and core of what we wear as a badge of honor throughout our nation’s history has been turned into a vile and disgusting mess by a maddened Department of Justice.” .
Tucker Carlson posted footage Monday night from inside the Capitol on January 6, including clips showing ‘QAnon Shaman,’ Jacob Chansley (above), apparently being ‘escorted’ through the building.
Chansley, with his megaphone, is seen on January 6, 2021 inside the Capitol
Carlson defended the rioters Monday.
“They were neat and meek,” Carlson said of those who stormed the Capitol. ‘These were not insurgents; they were tourists.
Carlson said they “obviously revere the Capitol,” noting that they took selfies and “made orderly lines.”
‘Deadly insurrection. Everything about that sentence is a lie,’ she said.
‘Very little about January 6 was organized or violent.
Surveillance video from inside the Capitol shows mostly peaceful chaos.
Chansley, a 33-year-old Navy veteran from Arizona, was one of the highest-profile figures to enter the Capitol on January 6.
He has been jailed for almost four years for ‘obstructing an official proceeding’.
In the footage, Chansley appears to be guided by an official as he tours the Capitol.
He passes a line of riot police, who make no move to stop him.
He is then escorted to several chamber entrances that appear to be locked, eventually finding an open door through which he disappears.
“Virtually every moment of his time inside the Capitol was recorded,” Carlson said.
The tapes show that the Capitol police never arrested Jacob Chansley. They helped him. They acted as their tour guides.
Carlson also showed the moments after Officer Brian Sicknick was confronted by the rioters.
Sicknick, 42, died on January 7, the day after the riot.
Brian Sicknick is seen shortly after the Capitol is breached. Carlson said he appeared ‘healthy and vigorous’
Sicknick, who died of a stroke on January 7, is seen during the riot carrying out his duties.
Capitol Hill rioter Julian Khater (pictured left) was sentenced to 80 months in prison for his role in the pepper spray assault of police officer Brian Sicknick (pictured right), who died the day after of the riots of January 6, 2021.
In April 2021, the DC Medical Examiner ruled that Sicknick, who was injured while confronting rioters, suffered a stroke and died of natural causes.
“To this day, media reports describe Sicknick as someone who was, in quotes, ‘killed’ on January 6,” Carlson said.
“The video we reviewed proves it to be a lie.”
Carlson said the officer was “healthy and vigorous” and noted that he was wearing a helmet.
“So it’s hard to imagine that he was killed from a head injury,” he said.
“Obviously, what happened to Brian Sicknick was not the result of the violence he suffered outside the Capitol.
“This tape overturns the most powerful and politically useful lie Democrats have ever told us about January 6.”
There have been multiple deaths related to the riots, including four Trump supporters, one of whom, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by Capitol Hill police.
Trump supporters are seen walking through the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Carlson described them as “tourists.”
Carlson further suggested that the alleged Capitol Rioter Ray Epps, pictured wearing a red Trump cap, was actually an FBI agent sent to stoke the violence. Epps denies his claims
Four officers died by suicide in the days and weeks after the riot.
There have also been approximately 1,000 arrests.
The footage comes as Fox News continues to contest a $1.6 billion lawsuit brought against the broadcasting giant by Dominion, which made the voting machines for the 2020 election.
Fox is being sued over claims the network endorsed theories that the company’s voting machines were rigged to achieve a Biden victory.
The station’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, recently spoke out about the lawsuit, saying he “wish it (Fox) had come out more forcefully” against the stolen election claims.
Fox News denies the claims made against it by Dominion.
