Over a week removed from the MAGA mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors say some of those involved intended to "capture and assassinate" officials, Reuters reports.
In a new court filing publicly released on Thursday, prosecutors asked a judge to detain Jacob Chansley, one of the most notable people to have been photographed and filmed storming the Capitol. Chansley is an Arizona man known among his followers as the "QAnon Shaman," and he reportedly left a note on Vice President Mike Pence's desk that read. "It's only a matter of time, justice is coming." Prosecutors believe this, and other evidence, points towards the mob's plans for Jan. 6 being more violent than the outcome suggests.
"Strong evidence, including Chansley’s own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States government," prosecutors said. The charges he faces "involve active participation in an insurrection attempting to violently overthrow the United States government," and prosecutors have suggested he is a danger to the public because "the insurrection is still in progress."
Law enforcement in Washington, D.C. have already begun increasing the security around the Capitol in the lead-up to Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20. Meanwhile, Airbnb has cancelled and blocked all reservations in the D.C. Metro area for the week of the inauguration.
Elsewhere in the court filing, Chansley was called a flight risk due to his belief that he "is an alien, a higher being, and he is here on Earth to ascend to another reality." Additionally, Chansley has since told the FBI that his note was not intended to be a threat, and Pence is a "child-trafficking traitor." Prior to his arrest, he planned to go back to Washington for the inauguration to protest.
Another case regarding someone involved in the mob points towards plans of capturing or even killing elected officials, with prosecutors in Texas court alleging a retired Air Force reservist who carried zip ties on the Senate floor intended to restrain lawmakers.
CNN reports that 53-year-old Larry Rendell Brock was photographed in the Senate chamber carrying the plastic cuffs, which are commonly used by police to restrain individuals. Prosecutors suggested that "Mr. Brock intended to use the zip-ties to restrain those he viewed as enemies—presumably, federal lawmakers, who had moments before been evacuated from the chamber." In Facebook posts he said he was buying a body armor for a "civil war," and has boldly claimed he picked the restraints off the floor after an officer dropped them.
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