Judge orders Justice Department to return helmet, spear to ‘QAnon Shaman’

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Monday ordered the Justice Department to return the spear and horned-helmet sported by Jacob Chansley, the self-described “QAnon Shaman,” as he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Chansley, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the events of Jan. 6, requested in May that the government return the property it confiscated from him at the time of his arrest, including the “horned coyote-tail headdress” and “a six-foot pole with an American flag ziptied to the shaft and a metal spearhead fixed to the top,” as the government has described them.

The Justice Department pushed back on Chansley’s request, arguing in court papers that the items, which were “used to project strength during the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” should remain in federal custody.

But on Monday, Judge Royce Lambert sided with Chansley and ordered the government to return his “unmistakable outfit,” as it has been described in court papers.

“Mr. Chansley has completed his prison sentence and much of his term of supervised release. Now, he has moved for the return of his property seized and still held by the government, including his spear and helmet,” Judge Lamberth wrote.

“Since the government has not established that it still needs these items as evidence and has not sought their forfeiture, the Court will GRANT Mr. Chansley’s motion,” the judge said.

More than 1,265 individuals have been charged in the Capitol attack, with prosecutors securing more than 718 guilty pleas, resulting in incarceration for more than 460 defendants, according to the Justice Department.