According to a recent court filing, US attorneys now suspect followers of President Donald Trump planned to “capture and assassinate elected officials” in their siege last week of the Capitol complex.
The filing, filed late Thursday by attorneys from the Justice Department, demanded the arrest of Jacob Chansley of Arizona, the QAnon conspiracy theorist portrayed in the riot at the desk of Vice President Mike Pence posing as a horned shaman.
“Strong evidence, including Chansley’s own words and actions at the Capitol, supports the Capitol rioters’ intention to capture and assassinate elected officials in the government of the United States,” prosecutors said of the siege of Jan 6.4
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They said Chansley, 33, left a message for Pence at the Senate Chamber dais, where the second-in-command had stood only a few minutes ago, saying, “Justice is coming, it’s only a matter of time.”
The filing provides more insight into the probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the day of anarchy at the centre of American democracy, which left elected officials holed up fearful for their life and at least five people killed, including one police officer.
It comes as prosecutors lay charges against people participating in the riot, including a man who flew the Confederate flag inside the house, a man sporting a sweatshirt “Cap Auschwitz” and a US Olympic swimming gold medalist.
On Friday, Chansley is due to testify in court.
Prosecutors said he is a drug user on a daily basis and potentially has mental health issues.
“The filing read, “Chansley speaks freely of his conviction that he is an entity, a higher being, and that he is here on Earth to rise to another state.
Prosecutors demanded that he be arrested because he “poses serious risks to the community from flight and danger.”
The far-right conspiracy theory blamed for fueling a section of Trump’s supporters at the Capitol complex, Chansley adheres to QAnon.
Social media outlets have been cracking down on their allies, who claim Trump is waging a covert war on a leftist cult of paedophiles adoring Satan.
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Trump was impeached Wednesday for “incitement of insurrection” in a bipartisan vote by egging on a large crowd of his followers to march on Congress.
As more than 20,000 armed National Guard troops were deployed after officials warned of the possibility of more unrest at the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden on Jan 20, as well as in state capitals, the centre of Washington was shut down early Friday.
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