Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

1 hour ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

2 hours ago

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

6 hours ago

Trump To Sign Executive Order Directing AG To Prosecute Flag Desecration

7 hours ago

Trump Signs Orders Aimed At Ending Cashless Bail Policies

7 hours ago

Fresno County DUI Crash Sends Car Into Embankment Near Highway 99

10 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Again Detained by US Immigration Officials

10 hours ago

Fresno County Wildfire Burns 3,338 Acres, Evacuation Orders Issued

10 hours ago
Feds: Capitol Mob Aimed to 'Assassinate' Elected Officials
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
January 15, 2021

Share

PHOENIX — The pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week aimed to “capture and assassinate elected officials,” federal prosecutors said in court documents.

The revelation came in a motion prosecutors filed late Thursday in the case against Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who took part in the insurrection while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns.

The details, tucked into the court papers, shed new light on the seriousness of the Capitol riot. They suggest that investigators believe there was a much more organized effort afoot, despite claims from rioters that it was a spontaneous outburst of anger over the election and President Donald Trump’s loss. Trump had been repeating baseless claims of election fraud for weeks.

Prosecutors say that after Chansley climbed up to the dais where Vice President Mike Pence had been presiding moments earlier, Chansley wrote a threatening note to Pence that said: “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”

Pence and congressional leaders had been ushered out of the chamber by the Secret Service and U.S. Capitol Police before the rioters stormed into the room.

“Strong evidence, including Chansley’s own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government,” prosecutors wrote in their memo urging the judge to keep Chansley behind bars.

Gerald Williams, Chansley’s attorney, didn’t return a phone call and email Friday morning seeking comment. A detention hearing is scheduled in his case for later Friday.

The FBI has been investigating whether any of the rioters had plotted to kidnap members of Congress and hold them hostage, focusing particularly on the men seen carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs and pepper spray.

Prosecutors raised a similar prospect on Friday in the case of a former Air Force officer who they alleged carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he intended “to take hostages.” But so far, the Justice Department has not publicly released any specific evidence on the plots or explained how the rioters planned to carry them out.

Chansley, who calls himself the “QAnon Shaman” and has long been a fixture at Trump rallies, surrendered to the FBI field office in Phoenix on Saturday.

QAnon Is an Apocalyptic and Convoluted Conspiracy Theory Spread Largely Through the Internet

News photos show him at the riot shirtless, with his face painted and wearing a fur hat with horns, carrying a U.S. flag attached to a wooden pole topped with a spear.

QAnon is an apocalyptic and convoluted conspiracy theory spread largely through the internet and promoted by some right-wing extremists.

Chansley told investigators he came to the Capitol “at the request of the president that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 2021.” An indictment unsealed Tuesday in Washington charges him with civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, and demonstrating in a Capitol building.

More than 80 people are facing charges stemming from the violence, including more than 40 people in federal court. Dozens more were arrested for violating a curfew that night. The federal charges brought so far are primarily for crimes such as illegal entry, but prosecutors have said they are weighing more serious charges against at least some of the rioters. Some were highly-trained ex-military and police.

Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said this week that he has organized a group of national security and public corruption prosecutors whose sole focus is to bring sedition charges for the “most heinous acts that occurred in the Capitol.”

During a hearing in Texas on Thursday, a prosecutor urged a judge to keep Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. locked up, saying the man meant to “take hostages.” Brock was arrested Sunday in Texas after being photographed on the Senate floor during the deadly riot wearing a helmet and heavy vest and carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs.

“He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said, without providing specifics.

Brock’s attorney, Brook Antonio II, noted that he has only been charged with misdemeanors. Antonio said there was no direct evidence of Brock breaking doors or windows to get into the Capitol, or doing anything violent once he was inside.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Crash With Semi-Truck Leaves Man Dead

DON'T MISS

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

DON'T MISS

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

DON'T MISS

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

DON'T MISS

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

DON'T MISS

Entz: Bulldogs Must ‘Learn, Burn, Return’ After Kansas Loss

DON'T MISS

Caleb Quick’s Father, Other Parents Protest at Fresno Court to Repeal Prop 57

DON'T MISS

SF Has Avoided Trump’s Ire Until Now. Will He Send National Guard?

DON'T MISS

Lil Nas X Pleads Not Guilty to Felony Charges of Assaulting Police

UP NEXT

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

UP NEXT

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

UP NEXT

CA Bill To Give Interest On Insurance Payments To Homeowners

UP NEXT

Trump To Sign Executive Order Directing AG To Prosecute Flag Desecration

UP NEXT

Trump Signs Orders Aimed At Ending Cashless Bail Policies

UP NEXT

US National Guard Troops in Washington to Begin Carrying Weapons, Officials Say

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Orders Aimed at Ending Cashless Bail Policies

UP NEXT

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

UP NEXT

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

UP NEXT

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

2 hours ago

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

2 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

2 hours ago

Entz: Bulldogs Must ‘Learn, Burn, Return’ After Kansas Loss

3 hours ago

Caleb Quick’s Father, Other Parents Protest at Fresno Court to Repeal Prop 57

3 hours ago

SF Has Avoided Trump’s Ire Until Now. Will He Send National Guard?

5 hours ago

Lil Nas X Pleads Not Guilty to Felony Charges of Assaulting Police

5 hours ago

Leaders, Journalist Groups React to Israeli Gaza Strike That Killed Five Journalists

6 hours ago

CA Bill To Give Interest On Insurance Payments To Homeowners

6 hours ago

Bakersfield Man Pleads Guilty to Shining Laser at Sheriff’s Helicopter

6 hours ago

Fresno County Crash With Semi-Truck Leaves Man Dead

A 45-year-old man was killed Monday afternoon in a crash involving a passenger car and a semi-truck in southeastern Fresno County, authoriti...

1 hour ago

fresno
1 hour ago

Fresno County Crash With Semi-Truck Leaves Man Dead

YouTube app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Fox Channels May Go Dark on YouTube TV From Wednesday Over Payment Dispute

California Governor Gavin Newsom, along with local congressional representatives, state officials and supporters, speaks as he announces the redrawing of California's congressional maps, calling on voters to approve a ballot measure, in response to a similar move in Texas being supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 14, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

2 hours ago

Two Students Arrested After Fight at Visalia’s Redwood High School

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
2 hours ago

Trump Wants to Meet North Korea’s Kim This Year, He Tells South Korea

2 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Man After Shooting and Stabbing Leave Two Hospitalized

Fresno State head coach Matt Entz
3 hours ago

Entz: Bulldogs Must ‘Learn, Burn, Return’ After Kansas Loss

Parents in Fresno County are calling for reforms to California’s Proposition 57, arguing it allows violent juvenile offenders to receive lighter sentences and slows prosecution, while providing support for families who have lost children to teen violence. (GV Wire)
3 hours ago

Caleb Quick’s Father, Other Parents Protest at Fresno Court to Repeal Prop 57

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend