Jake Angeli

Jake Angeli
Angeli in 2020
Personal details
Born	Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley c. 1988 (age 36–37)
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	2005–2007
Rank	Storekeeper Seaman Apprentice

Jake Angeli (born Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, c. 1988), also known as the "QAnon Shaman", "Q Shaman" and "Yellowstone Wolf", is an American conspiracy theorist, actor, and activist who participated in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. He is a supporter of President Donald Trump and a proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

On January 9, Angeli was arrested on federal charges of "knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds".

Early life and career

Jake Angeli was born c. 1988, to Martha Chansley. He attended Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona, and Glendale Community College, where he completed some coursework in psychology, religion, philosophy, and ceramics.

Chansley enlisted in the United States Navy on September 26, 2005. After boot camp and training as a supply clerk, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk in March 2006. At some point, he refused to take an anthrax vaccine and was scheduled for dismissal from the Navy. On September 29, 2007, he was sent to a Transient Personnel Unit in Puget Sound in Washington state, and was processed out of the Navy on October 11. After two years and 15 days in uniform, his final rate was Storekeeper Seaman Apprentice.

Career

Angeli says that before his political activity he worked as an actor and voice-over artist, and kept a profile on the Backstage website.

Angeli has self-published two books: Will & Power: Inside the Living Library (Volume 1), published in 2017 under the pen name Loan Wolf; and One Mind at a Time: A Deep State of Illusion, published in 2020 under the name Jacob Angeli. He produced and narrated 11 videos espousing various conspiracy theories and uploaded them onto the platform Rumble in late 2020.

Activism

See also: Trumpism

Angeli has been a supporter of Donald Trump, has a social media following, and has attended rallies supporting QAnon mostly in and around Phoenix. At various rallies in Arizona, he shouted about QAnon conspiracy theories and carried a sign that says "Q Sent Me."

Before attending far-right rallies, Angeli was noticed in 2019 for frequently protesting alone outside the Arizona Capitol, espousing various conspiracy theories. He was reported as a shamanic practitioner when attending a climate activism protest in Arizona. He began wearing his distinctive fur hat and face paint to attract attention so that he could then talk about QAnon and "other truths", he told The Arizona Republic in early 2020; in 2021 he called his outfit "Shaman" dress. He appeared at a Black Lives Matter protest in the Phoenix area in order to spread the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Besides appearances at Trump rallies, Angeli protested COVID-19 lockdowns in Arizona. Following the 2020 United States, Angeli's protests focused on challenging the results of the vote in Arizona. He camped outside the Maricopa County Courthouse during the vote counting process, and gave a speech at a rally there on November 7, the day that president-elect Joe Biden announced his win, declaring, "This election has not been called! Don't believe that lie! They got their hands caught in the cookie jar and we're going to the Supreme Court! Trump always looks like he's going to lose. And then he wins."

Participation in Capitol storming

Main article: 2021 storming of the United States Capitol

Court transcripts reveal Angeli told the FBI that he had traveled to the Capitol "as a part of a group effort, with other ‘patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to DC on January 6, 2021”. During the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, Angeli entered the United States Senate floor in the Capitol, wearing his symbolic shamanic attire, including a horned fur headdress, and war paint in red, white, and blue, as well as carrying a six-foot-high (1.8 m) spear, with an American flag tied below the blade. He was also photographed standing on the raised platform in front of Vice President Mike Pence's chair, gaining him significant media attention. He later said police had initially blocked the crowd from entry, but had then specifically allowed them entry, at which point he entered. After the riot, Angeli told reporters, "The fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks and retreat into their underground bunker, I consider that a win." Misinformation labeled Angeli as a member of various movements which he does not support, such as Antifa or Black Lives Matter. On January 8, Angeli was posted as a person of interest with the Washington DC Police. Interviewed while wanted, Angeli said that he believed he did nothing wrong, telling NBC: "I walked through an open door, dude." On January 8, Angeli told KPNX that he "wasn't worried" about possible charges. Angeli had no criminal record in Arizona before taking part in the riot. On January 9, Angeli was arrested and brought up on U.S. federal charges of "knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds". A Capitol police special agent was quoted as saying that he pegged Angeli by his “unique attire and extensive tattoos covering his arms and left side of his torso". Angeli voluntarily spoke to the Washington Field Office of the FBI prior to his arrest. Once in prison Angeli reportedly refused to eat because the food served was not organic. Subsequently, a court ordered that he receive organic food. His attorney publicly called on President Trump to pardon his client, arguing that Angeli had been unarmed, not violent, and not destructive, and had been acting on the "invitation" of the President. In a January 14 court filing, federal prosecutors said that Angeli had left a note on Pence's desk in the Senate chamber that said “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”

Other beliefs

Angeli has stated his belief that televisions and radios emit "very specific frequencies that are inaudible" and "affect the brain waves of your brain". Angeli also stated his belief in the Bilderberg conspiracy and his belief that Freemasons designed Washington, D.C., according to "ley lines" that amplify the Earth's magnetic field. In reflecting on the Capitol storming, Angeli said that "What we did on Jan. 6 in many ways was an evolution in consciousness, because as we marched down the street along these ley lines, shouting 'USA' or shouting things like 'freedom'... we were actually affecting the quantum realm."

When asked about her son's views in 2021, Martha Chansley told ABC15 Arizona that "it takes a lot of courage to be a patriot".

Prosecutors have alleged that Angeli believes he is an alien or higher being, and he is destined to ascend to another reality.

False rumors

After the storming of the Capitol, users on Facebook circulated information that said that Angeli was associated with the anti-fascist Antifa movement or the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and had infiltrated the event as an agent provocateur. In a January 6 tweet from his Twitter account, USAwolfpack, Angeli responded to speculations made by Trump campaign lawyer Lin Wood: "Mr. Wood. I am not antifa or blm. I'm a Qanon & digital soldier. My name is Jake & I marched with the police & fought against BLM & ANTIFA [in] PHX." Snopes investigated the statement, concluding that he did attend a BLM rally, that he is not affiliated with Antifa, and is an active Trump supporter.

There was also speculation that Angeli colluded with Nancy Pelosi's son-in-law, Michiel Vos, seen in a photo with him outside the U.S. Capitol Building. Snopes wrote that Vos is a reporter with RTL, and the image is from a story on the protests which Vos wrote for Dutch news program RTL Boulevard.

False rumors spread as users on social media mistook Angeli for Jay Kay, the lead singer of Jamiroquai, with people referring to him as "Jamiroquai" or "Pseudo Jamiroquai". This case of mistaken identity comes from a supposed visual resemblance and that Kay has worn a Native American war bonnet while performing. On the day after the Capitol attack, Kay released a short video telling his fans that he was not associated with the protest, stating "It wasn't my crowd".