Jacob Chansley, the Capitol rioter known as the “QAnon Shaman” and arguably the most recognizable Jan. 6 defendant, has been transferred from a federal prison complex to a halfway house in Arizona, several months before he was initially set to be released.
Federal prison records indicate Chansley is currently at a “residential reentry management” facility in Phoenix, with a release date of May 25. He was originally projected to be released in July 2023, but federal prisoners can earn reductions in sentences over the course of their time behind bars.
Chansley was sentenced to 41 months prison in November 2021, two months after he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. He also spent time in jail prior to his guilty plea and sentencing.
Chansley is among the highest-profile of the roughly 1,000 criminal defendants who have been charged for their roles in the Capitol attack, in part due to his unique outfit, which included animal fur and horns. He was also among a smaller subset of rioters who went into the Senate chamber, where he sat at the desk of the Senate president.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesman wouldn’t comment specifically on Chansley’s case, but noted in a statement to CBS News that the 2018 law known as the First Step Act changed how frequently federal inmates can earn sentence reductions, with credits last calculated in March.
In recent weeks, Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired security footage that appears to show Capitol Police officers escorting Chansley throughout the building as “tour guides”.
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At his sentencing hearing in 2021, Chansley called his actions “indefensible” and said he had “no excuse.”
“I am in no way shape or form a dangerous criminal. I am not a violent man. I am not an insurrectionist. I am certainly not a domestic terrorist,” Chansley told the judge. “I am nothing like these criminals that I have been incarcerated with”.
But in a tweet thread Thursday morning, Chansley’s lawyer, Bill Shipley signaled that he differed in opinion with the person who had been Chansley’s trial lawyer and indicated that Chansley will speak out publicly about what happened to him one day.
“Jake will make his thoughts known about all that has happened when it is the right time to do so,” he tweeted.
