The 'QAnon Shaman' who was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for his role in the January 6 riots is a failed actor who lived with mother, wrote two books about his New Age spiritual beliefs, and was kicked out of the military for refusing an anthrax vaccine.
Jacob Chansley, the spear-carrying rioter whose horned fur hat, tattooed bare chest and face paint made him one of the more recognizable figures in the assault on the Capitol, was sentenced on Wednesday to 41 months in prison.
Chansley, who pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding, was among the first rioters to enter the building.
He has acknowledged using a bullhorn to rile up the mob, offering thanks in a prayer while in the Senate for having the chance to get rid of traitors and scratching out a threatening note to Vice President Mike Pence saying, 'It's Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!'
Jacob Chansley, 33, was sentenced on Wednesday to more than three years in prison for his role in the January 6 breach of the US Capitol
Before he became the 'QAnon Shaman,' Chansley was a failed actor who lived with his mother in her Glendale, Arizona home
Though he isn't accused of violence, prosecutors say Chansley, of Arizona, was the 'public face of the Capitol riot' who went into the attack with a weapon, ignored repeated police orders to leave the building and gloated about his actions in the days immediately after the attack.
The image of Chansley holding a flagpole topped with a spear tip and looking as if he were howling was one of the most striking to emerge from the riot.
Chansley is seen above after turning himself in to federal authorities days after the riot
He previously called himself the 'QAnon Shaman' but has since repudiated the QAnon movement, which is centered on the baseless belief that former President Donald Trump was fighting a cabal of Satan-worshipping, child sex trafficking cannibals.
Days after the riot, he surrendered himself to the FBI in Phoenix.
Before images of Chansley inside the US Senate chamber made headline news worldwide, he was living with his 56-year-old mother, Martha, in her $199,000 home in Glendale, Arizona.
In January 2019, he was kicked out of his $900-a-month apartment for failing to keep up on his rent.
At the time, he owed $1,247 in back rent.
Neighbors told DailyMail.com that Chansley had no steady job and was often seen wandering the area in his horned shaman costume.
One neighbor said Chansley was often seen dancing on the roof of his mother's home. The neighbor said the ritual was 'bizarre.'
Chansley would often show up at political protests in Arizona. In July, he filmed himself during a demonstration in which he proclaimed that COVID-19 was a hoax.
In September, he led a protest at Arrowhead Mall in Glendale, Arizona, where he rambled about child abusers and claimed that a spiral sign close to the bathrooms is actually ‘an FBI pedophile code’ while clutching a sign that read ‘Q sent me’.
He was also part of a rowdy crowd of Trump supporters chanting ‘Stop the Steal’ who showed up at a tabulation center in Maricopa County on November 5.
Chansley’s antics are a far cry from the life he had been hoping for when he graduated from Moon Valley High School in 2005 (pictured are his yearbook photos, Chansley was in the Debate and Math clubs).
Yearbook photos obtained by DailyMail.com show a fresh-faced blond teenager seen smiling with his arms around younger half-brother Tyler, 30
A headshot was accompanied by the motto: ‘There is no greater gift than the gift of life so use it to its fullest'
Friends from school say he has changed dramatically over the 15 years since he left Moon Valley High. He is pictured in Math club
A profile on film industry site Backstage lists just one project – volunteering at a Theater Camp for disadvantaged children organized by local charity, Free Arts of Arizona, in 2018
Chansley’s antics are a far cry from the life he had been hoping for when he graduated from Moon Valley High School in 2005.
Yearbook photos obtained by DailyMail.com show a fresh-faced blond teenager seen smiling with his arms around younger half-brother Tyler, 30.
A headshot was accompanied by the motto: ‘There is no greater gift than the gift of life so use it to its fullest.’
Along with Tyler, Chansley was also a member of the school debating team and was part of the Moon Valley High Math Club.
But while Tyler also joined the ‘Rocket Town’ cultural diversity program – describing his experience of spending time with students of color as ‘like
