PHOENIX — Jacob Chansley, who may be better known as the "QAnon Shaman," has filed a statement of interest to run for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in Congress.
Chansley stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding. He was originally sentenced in Nov. 2021 to 41 months in prison for his role in the Insurrection. He instead served about 27 months before being transferred to Phoenix in March 2023.
Chansley was described by prosecutors in his Jan. 6 trial as "the public face of the Capitol riot." He stood out from the rioters who stormed the Capitol, shirtless with a horned headdress at the dais where Vice President Pence had been presiding at the certification of the 2020 election.
As a felony convict, Chansley can run but not vote in the election.
Because there wasn't a law in place and you don't get to make laws retroactively.
A better question might be, how do we address this sort of thing moving forward?
Insurrection act?
That's the 14th Amendment and only applies to people who took an oath.
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability."
John Q. Asshole can't be held accountable under this provision. We gotta play by the rules and the bullies don't. Sucks, but here we are.