Jacob Chansley, known as the "QAnon Shaman" for his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, has made a surprising move by filing paperwork to run for Congress in Arizona's 8th Congressional District, NBC News reports.

This development comes as the district's current representative, Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., announced her decision not to seek re-election.

Chansley, an Arizona resident, gained notoriety during the Capitol siege for his distinctive appearance. He was seen shirtless, wearing face paint and a furry headdress with horns, and carrying a U.S. flag attached to a spear, along with a bullhorn. His striking attire and behavior during the riot made him one of the most recognizable figures in the mob.

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Chansley had pleaded guilty to a single count of felony obstruction of an official proceeding. In 2021, a federal judge handed down a 41-month prison sentence to Chansley. Prosecutors, in their sentencing memo, labeled him as the "public face of the Capitol riot."

They noted that Chansley was part of the initial wave of rioters who breached the Capitol building and used his bullhorn to incite the crowd and demand the appearance of lawmakers.

The sentencing memo further detailed Chansley's actions, including shouting profanities in the Senate gallery, defiantly occupying the chamber's dais, and leaving a threatening note stating, "It’s Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!" Prosecutors emphasized Chansley's involvement in spreading "false information and hateful rhetoric" through social media, which contributed to the Capitol attack.

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Chansley served approximately 27 months of his sentence before being transferred to a halfway house in Phoenix in March, as reported by the Associated Press. During his legal proceedings, Chansley's then-lawyer, Albert Watkins, stated that Chansley wished to distance himself from his "QAnon Shaman" persona. At his sentencing hearing, Chansley expressed regret for his actions, acknowledging their indefensible nature.

“I was wrong for entering the Capitol,” Chansley admitted to the judge. “I have no excuse. No excuse whatsoever.”

Now, as he embarks on a political campaign, Chansley's bid for Congress marks a significant shift from his previous activities and public image. His candidacy raises questions about the political landscape in Arizona's 8th Congressional District and reflects the ongoing influence of the January 6 events on American politics.

With his entry into the congressional race, the district, already a battleground, may see an intensification of political discourse and scrutiny in the upcoming election cycle.

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Jacob Chansley, the horned Capitol protestor known by the moniker "QAnon Shaman", reportedly hasn't eaten since Friday because his jail won't serve him organic food, his mom has revealed.

Chansley (who also goes by the name Jake Angeli) inadvertently became an iconic symbol of the Capitol riot last week, after he joined a mob of pro-Trump protestors who interrupted the ceremonial counting of the Electoral College votes on Wednesday, January 6.

Chansley's bizarre appearance, which included a horned Viking helmet, bare chest, and face paint, captivated photographers at the scene of the civil unrest, and this led to him being front-and-center of a lot of the coverage.

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The 33-year-old Chansley turned himself into the FBI on Friday, January 8. According to a statement from the federal attorney for Washington DC:

"Jacob Anthony Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, of Arizona, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

"Chansley was taken into custody today. It is alleged that Chansley was identified as the man seen in media coverage who entered the Capitol building dressed in horns, a bearskin headdress, red, white and blue face paint, shirtless, and tan pants.

"This individual carried a spear, approximately 6 feet in length, with an American flag tied just below the blade."

Per ABC News, Chansley is currently being held in a quarantine section of a detention facility in his native city of Phoenix, Arizona.

In his first (virtual) court appearance on Monday, January 11, Chansley's public defender told Judge Deborah Fine that their client was on an extremely restrictive diet, possibly for religious reasons, and hadn't eaten since being taken into custody.

Judge Fine has since ordered the US Marshal for the District of Arizona David Gonzales to ensure Chansley's dietary needs are being met.

Meanwhile, Chansley's mother, Martha, told ABC News reporters attending her son's court appearance that Jacob only eats organic food for personal health reasons, stating:

"He gets very sick if he doesn't eat organic food - literally will get physically sick."

Meanwhile, Chansley himself appeared unrepentant about his role in the civil disturbance.

In a later interview with BBC News correspondent Sophie Long regarding his part in the riots, he claimed that his fellow protestors were "patriots doing what our founding fathers would have done."

He also added: "Antifa are cowards who have no commitment to their country or their cause."

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Chansley isn't the only Capitol protestor to have face serious repercussions in the aftermath of the riot - with several others having since been arrested or fired.

For instance, per CNN, Texan attorney Paul Davis has been fired from his job at Goosehead Insurance after his employers were alerted to pictures of him inside the Capitol Building last Wednesday.

A Twitter account belonging to the company tweeted on Thursday, January 7: "Paul Davis, Associate General Counsel, is no longer employed by Goosehead."

Meanwhile, former Pennsylvania state representative Rick Saccone was forced to resign from his position of adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College, after he posted now-deleted pictures of himself attending the protest on Facebook.

Speaking to West Pennsylvanian news outlet The Tribune-Review, Saccone stated: "I've been there 21 years. I didn't want all this terrible media kerfuffle to tarnish the school. I decided it would be better if I just resigned."

Michael Hustava, Saint Vincent's Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, told CNN:

"As a result of that investigation, Dr. Saccone has submitted and we have accepted his letter of resignation, effective immediately. He will no longer be associated with Saint Vincent College in any capacity."

Per Reuters, Chicago realtor Libby Andrews was fired by @properties and removed from the real estate agency's website, despite her insistence that she never even entered the Capitol Building on Wednesday 8.

Reuters further reports that a Twitter thread started by a user going by the handle @Gagladla has also started naming-and-shaming those involved in the riot.

Another man has been fired from his job at a Maryland-based for participating after he was spotted wearing his employee ID badge in the midst of the violence.

Navistar Direct Marketing, the employer of the man in question claimed in a press statement that it had been made aware of the photos and had terminated his contract.

A spokesperson for the organization wrote: "Navistar Direct Marketing was made aware that a man wearing a Navistar company badge was seen inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, during the security breach. After a review of the photographic evidence, the employee in question has been terminated for cause.

"While we support all employee’s right to peaceful, lawful exercise of free speech, any employee demonstrating dangerous conduct that endangers the health and safety of others will no longer have an employment opportunity with Navistar Direct Marketing."

A man who was widely photographed in a horned hat during the riots in the US Capitol last week is in custody on charges that include violent entry and disorderly conduct, it has been reported.

Jacob Anthony Chansley, who is also known as Jake Angeli is known to be a prominent follower of the baseless conspiracy theory QAnon, the BBC reports.

Mr Chansley, who apparently refers to himself as the QAnon Shaman, is believed to be the man who was widely pictured with a painted face, fur hat and horns during the violent riots inside Congress on Wednesday.

A statement from the federal attorney for Washington DC reads in part:

"Jacob Anthony Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, of Arizona, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Chansley was taken into custody today.

"It is alleged that Chansley was identified as the man seen in media coverage who entered the Capitol building dressed in horns, a bearskin headdress, red, white and blue face paint, shirtless, and tan pants.

"This individual carried a spear, approximately 6 feet in length, with an American flag tied just below the blade."

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Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday that the Capitol rioter seen carrying Nancy Pelosi's lectern in viral image had been arrested.

Florida authorities said that they had arrested 36-year-old Adam Johnson of Parrish, Florida and that he is now being held at Pinellas County Jail pending charges.

Johnson is believed to be the man who appears in a viral photograph taken during Wednesday's raid of the Capitol, where he is seen grinning and waving at the camera while holding the lectern in his right arm, per investigators.

Johnson was clean shaven in his mugshot, whereas in the image in question he sported a beard and was wearing a wool hat with "Trump" emblazoned on it.

Another individual who was photographed sitting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office with his foot on her desk during the Capitol riots has also been arrested, it is widely reported.

Per CNBC, Richard Barnett was apprehended in Arkansas and charged with "entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry, and theft of public property".

Photographs of Barnett sat in Speaker Pelosi's office with his foot up on her desk quickly went viral as a demonstration of the chaos that was unfolding inside the Capitol on Wednesday.

Barnett, 60, is said to have bragged to reporters about how he had broken into Pelosi's office.

“I wrote her a nasty note, put my feet up on her desk,” he said, per the New York Times. "When the police came in with pepper spray, I said, ‘I paid for this, it’s mine,’ and I left.”

The lawyer for the man pictured wearing a horned hat as he stormed the US Capitol alongside his fellow Trump supporters is now asking the outgoing president to pardon him.

Jacob Chansley's lawyer, Albert Watkins is urging Trump to do the "honorable thing and pardon those of his peaceful followers who accepted the president's invitation," according to a press release on January 14, per ABC 15.

On the morning of January 9, Chansley of Arizona, who is also known as Jake Angeli, turned himself in to the FBI field office in Phoenix.

A shirtless Chansley was seen inside the Capitol building on January 6 wearing a pair of horns, a bearskin headdress, as well as red, white, and blue face paint.

The 33-year-old currently faces a six-count federal indictment and is in custody at a Phoenix federal facility.

"Mr. Chansley is an American; he served honorably in the U.S. military," Mr. Watkins said, per ABC 15. "He has zero criminal history. He is a lover of nature, routinely practices meditation is an active practitioner of yoga, and eats only organic food."

"He took seriously the countless messages of President Trump. He believed in President Trump. Like tens of millions of other Americans, Chansley felt -- for the first time in his life -- as though his voice was being heard," the release continued.

Chansey, who is believed to have been raised in Phoenix and to have attended Moon Valley High School, appeared in court earlier this week where he faced two misdemeanor charges.

It was made public that Chansley was on a very restrictive diet, reportedly for religious reasons, and had not eaten since he was held at the facility.

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Chansley's lawyer also stated that his client did not conceal his identity during the breach of the Capitol and did not partake in any violence.

"Mr. Chansley did not hide his identity," Mr. Watkins said in the press release. "He was unarmed. He was not violent. He was not destructive. His attire was consistent with his long-held Shaman beliefs."

"While in the Capitol Building, he followed the instructions of supportive and respectful law enforcement personnel," he continued. "He did not bear arms, but rather, sported a megaphone…so his voice could be heard."

"When alerted to the fact that federal law enforcement officials were interested in him, he immediately and peacefully surrendered himself to the FBI."

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"My client had heard the oft-repeated words of President Trump... The words and invitation of a president are supposed to mean something.

"Given the peaceful and compliant fashion in which Mr. Chansley comported himself, it would be appropriate and honorable for the president to pardon Mr. Chansley and other like-minded, peaceful individuals who accepted the president's invitation with honorable intentions."

Jake Angeli is expected to make another court appearance in Phoenix later today (January 15).

A judge has ordered that the 'Horned Shaman' protestor who broke into the Capitol should receive an organic diet after going on a "deeply concerning" fast, the Daily Mail reports.

Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, also known as Jake Angeli, was widely photographed at the Capitol riots last Wednesday, where he was seen in face-paint, a fur hat, and holding a Star-Spangled spear.

After handing himself into the FBI, Chansley went on a fast because he was unable to receive organic food in prison.

Judge Deborah Fine described his fasting as "deeply concerning" at his first court appearance via video link on Monday (January 11) and ordered the prison to find a way to meet his dietary requirements.

Chansley has been charged with two federal misdemeanors.

Namely, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

David Gonzales, U.S. Marshal for the District of Arizona, confirmed that the judge's order to feed Chansley organic food would be adhered to.

"We will abide by the judge's order," he told ABC 15.

Martha Chansley, the defendant's mother, explained that her son is unable to eat non-organic food.

"He gets very sick if he doesn't eat organic food - literally will get physically sick," she told ABC 15.

She went on to describe her son as a "patriot" and the "gentlest person I know." and was unapologetic for his role in the violence which took place at the Capitol last Wednesday.

According to court documents, Chansley contacted the FBI field office in Washington and told an agent that "he was the male in the face paint and headdress in the Vice President's chair in the Senate."

He explained that he had made the journey from Arizona to the senate with other "patriots" at the request of President Trump, the documents state.

The 33-year-old was officially identified by the FBI in part due to his distinctive tattoos, including one of bricks circling his biceps.

Chansley addressed the judge during Monday's hearing, but he did not address the charges made against him.

"I'm not really all that worried about it because, in all honesty... I didn't break any laws. I walked through open doors," he said in an interview last week.

"I obey the orders of the president of the United States," he said.