NEW: "Although you've evolved in your thinking and reversed your thinking in many ways, what you did here was horrific," Judge Royce Lamberth told Jacob Chansley, AKA the 'QAnon Shaman,' during sentencing for his role in the Capitol riot. by @cryanbarber businessinsider.com/jacob-chansley…
At the court hearing Wednesday, Chansley put on a charm offensive in hopes of receiving what his defense lawyer had requested: a time-served sentence that accounted for the months he has spent in solitary confinement but with no further time in custody.
Flanked by a deputy US marshal, with his lawyer Albert Watkins pacing nearby, Chansley described Lamberth as a man of honor and mentioned the judge's past military service. Chansley even thanked Lamberth for granting him the organic diet he desired in jail.
"I took a lot of flak for that," Lamberth said.
"God bless you for it. It made all the difference," Chansley said, before adding: "I could not have asked God for a better judge."
"God bless you for it. It made all the difference," Chansley said, before adding: "I could not have asked God for a better judge."
Lamberth was struck by the kind words. A day earlier, the appointee of President Ronald Reagan celebrated his 34th anniversary on the federal bench, and he thanked Chansley for comments he said were the "most remarkable I've heard in 34 years."
"I think you are genuine in your remorse and heartfelt," the judge added. "Parts of those remarks are akin to the kinds of things Martin Luther King would have said."
In a nearly half-hour address, Chansley invoked Jesus & Mahatma Gandhi as he presented himself to Lamberth as a remorseful, changed man who took responsibility for his conduct on January 6.
At one point, describing the strain of solitary confinement, Chansley quoted the 1994 film "Shawshank Redemption" and said, "Hope is a dangerous thing."
"You really dig when you're locked up 22 hours a day," he said at another point in the hearing.
"You really dig when you're locked up 22 hours a day," he said at another point in the hearing.
His defense lawyer, Albert Watkins, said Chansley had undergone an evolution in jail. During his first weeks in custody, Chansley hoped to receive a pardon from former President Donald Trump and was disappointed not to receive one, Watkins said.
Watkins said Chansley came to view images from January 6 with a "detached view of a former self" and eventually wanted to be held accountable for his role in the Capitol siege.
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