
Jacob Anthony Chansley, the man wearing a bearskin headdress during the US Capitol siege, has told the FBI he came to Washington earlier this week “as a part of a group effort, with other ‘patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to DC on January 6, 2021,” according to a narrative from investigators in his court record.
Chansley had called the FBI the day after the attack Wednesday and confirmed to them he was the person in the photos in the vice president’s chair in the Senate, the court document said.
His voluntary disclosure to the FBI is the strongest wording in court filings yet indicating coordination between followers of the President that led to the violent and destructive overrun of the Capitol, and how much they sought to follow Trump’s prompts.
No conspiracy charges have been brought related to the siege.
From the statement of facts supporting his arrest:
“On January 7, 2021, CHANSLEY called in to the Washington Field Office of the FBI, to voluntarily speak with law enforcement. Your affiant and an FBI agent spoke on the phone with CHANSLEY, who confirmed that he was the male in the face paint and headdress in the Vice President’s chair in the Senate. CHANSLEY stated that he came as a part of a group effort, with other “patriots” from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 2021.”