Mother of Arizona man in high-profile DC riot photos speaks out
Two men accused of joining a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters that stormed the nation’s Capitol — one wearing a horned, fur hat and the other carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern — were charged Saturday, the latest arrests in Wednesday’s mayhem that left five people dead.
The arrests come as more images emerge showing just how violent the riots were: a bloodied officer crushed in a doorway screaming; another tumbling over a railing into the crowd below after being body-slammed from behind; members of the media being cursed, shoved and punched.
TOPSHOT - Supporters of US President Donald Trump, including member of the QAnon conspiracy group Jake Angeli, aka Yellowstone Wolf (C), enter the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Saul LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP vi (Getty Images)
Jacob Anthony Chansley, an Arizona man seen in photos and video of the mob with a painted face and wearing a costume that included the horned hat, was taken into custody Saturday and charged with counts that include violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Chansley, more commonly known as Jake Angeli, will remain in custody in Arizona pending a detention hearing that will be scheduled during an initial court appearance early in the coming week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Esther Winne told The Associated Press by email. Chansley did not immediately respond to messages left via email and telephone.
RELATED: Feds arrest 'QAnon Shaman,' West Virginia lawmaker after Capitol riot
Chansley, who had become a staple in his costume at pro-Trump protests across the country, is now among dozens of people arrested in the wake of the Capitol invasion by a large mob of Trump supporters enraged over his election loss.
Arizona man's mother speaks out about his involvement
Martha Chansley, his mother, says, "He didn’t have any intentions of any of that other than supporting Trump and they were invited to go over there,"
She said she never expected his trip to support the president to turn into what it did.
"You become a little flabbergasted, I suppose. I never expected that. He never expected that. He just was going there to support Trump like everyone else and then was going to come home," she explained.
What came after the rally Wednesday wreaked havoc on the nation's capitol, and his mother says she's not excusing what happened.
"We need to make that very clear I am not excusing anybody who committed anything that was violent or caused harm or vandalism or anything like that. He was not part of any of that at all. There were many many, many others that were pictured doing that. I just think that because of the way he was dressed and everything like that, that it drew attention to him," she said.
His mother says he called federal officials to turn himself in, telling the Department of Justice that he went to DC to support the president after he requested Arizona patriots to join him at his rally.
She says it's her understanding her son walked through open doors, not breaking into the capitol like many are seen doing.
"He wasn’t a part of that at all ... So when I see him being demonized, you probably should find out what is really going on here," she said.
Watch Martha Chansley's full interview below:
The rioters took over the House and Senate chambers, smashed windows and waved Trump, American and Confederate flags, forcing lawmakers to halt their voting to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory and go into hiding for hours.
A Florida man accused of making off with Pelosi’s lectern during the chaos was arrested Friday night on a federal warrant and was being held Saturday without bail in Pinellas County, Florida. Jail records do not show if Adam Johnson, 36, of Parrish, Florida, has an attorney.
Johnson was charged Saturday with theft, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
RELATED: 'Brian did his job': Family remembers fallen Capitol officer
The married father of five was quickly identified on social media by local residents as the man in a photo smiling as he walked through the Capitol rotunda carrying Pelosi’s lectern, The Bradenton Herald reported.
Johnson posted on social media that he was in Washington, D.C., during Wednesday’s riots and included disparaging comments about the Black Lives Matter movement, according to The Bradenton Herald. Those posts were later deleted or taken down.
During Wednesday’s violence, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was wounded in a confrontation with attackers and was reportedly struck by a fire extinguisher. He died Thursday night. Another officer was crushed in a doorway, but it’s unclear what happened to that officer, whose plight was captured on camera and shared by the progressive organization Status Coup. Members of media organizations, including The Associated Press and The New York Times, were also attacked.
By Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17 cases in federal district court and 40 others in the District of Columbia Superior Court for a variety of offenses ranging from assaulting police officers to entering restricted areas of the U.S. Capitol, stealing federal property and threatening lawmakers.
Prosecutors said additional cases remained under seal, dozens of other people were being sought by federal agents and the U.S. attorney in Washington vowed Friday that "all options were on the table" for charges, including possible sedition.
RELATED: Timeline of the pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol: How the chaos unfolded
Other notable arrests in the Capitol invasion include:
— Doug Jensen, an Iowa man, was jailed early Saturday on federal charges, including trespassing and disorderly conduct counts, for his alleged role in the Capitol riot. Jensen, 41, of Des Moines, was being held without bond at the Polk County Jail and county sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Evans said he didn’t know if Jensen had an attorney. Video posted online during the storming of the Capitol showed a man who appears to be Jensen, who is white, pursuing a Black officer up an interior flight of stairs as a mob of people trails several steps behind. At several points, the officer says "get back," to no avail.
— Richard Barnett, an Arkansas man who was shown in a widely seen photo sitting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with his boots on a desk after the storming of the Capitol, was arrested Friday by the FBI. Barnett, 60, turned himself in to FBI agents at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in Bentonville, Arkansas. He is jailed in the Washington County Detention Center in nearby Fayetteville, Arkansas, without bond pending an initial court appearance, FBI Little Rock spokesman Connor Hagan said. No attorney is listed in online jail records for the Gravette, Arkansas, man.
— Derrick Evans, a West Virginia state lawmaker who posted videos online showing himself pushing his way inside the Capitol, was arrested Friday by the FBI at his home and charged with entering restricted federal property. Evans, who faced bipartisan calls for him to step down, submitted a letter of resignation Saturday to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and apologized for his actions. Evans faces charges that he entered a restricted area of the U.S. Capitol after he livestreamed himself rushing into the building with a horde of rampaging Trump supporters. In the videos, Evans is seen fist bumping a police officer and then milling around the rotunda as he shouted, "Our house!"
___
Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Paul Davenport contributed to this report. Callahan reported from Indianapolis.