Jacob Chansley's lawyer Albert Watkins is holding a virtual Zoom press conference, scheduled to begin in minutes.
Highlights in this thread.
Read more about his client's guilty plea this morning here. lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-br… via @lawcrimenews
Highlights in this thread.
Read more about his client's guilty plea this morning here. lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-br… via @lawcrimenews
Watkins begins, calling his client "The Shaman."
He says his client has "repudiated the Q."
(Chansley is widely known as the "QAnon Shaman.")
He says his client has "repudiated the Q."
(Chansley is widely known as the "QAnon Shaman.")
Watkins:
"Today, Jake made a monumental step toward doing right by our nation, and doing right by himself. He entered a plea of guilty" to one felony count of obstruction.
"Today, Jake made a monumental step toward doing right by our nation, and doing right by himself. He entered a plea of guilty" to one felony count of obstruction.
Watkins claims his client "declined from a gentle, extraordinarily smart man into an individual who was clearly mentally falling into the abyss" as a result of solitary confinement.
Watkins claims he's tried to shift the dialogue "away from the mentality of a lynch mob."
His client was admittedly part of mob that propped up a gallows and chanted "Hang Mike Pence!"
His client was admittedly part of mob that propped up a gallows and chanted "Hang Mike Pence!"
Watkins defends his admittedly "vulgar" remarks referring to Jan. 6 defendants as "short-bus people," "on the spectrum," and "retards."
Because of those remarks, he says: "I was able to garner for my client, a mental health care that he needed for immediate assistance."
Because of those remarks, he says: "I was able to garner for my client, a mental health care that he needed for immediate assistance."
As Watkins continues his soliloquy, read the statement of offense that Chansley signed, admitting to the things he did.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
This is the plea agreement. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Watkins claims that Chansley was under "a great deal of familial pressure" not to take the plea because they believed Trump would be reinstated and pardon him.
"It took a lot of courage for a young man who was raised by his mother to say, 'No,'" Watkins claims.
"It took a lot of courage for a young man who was raised by his mother to say, 'No,'" Watkins claims.
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