United States v. Chansley

• Decision Date: 08 March 2021
• Docket Number: Case No. 21-cr-3 (RCL)
• Citation: 525 F.Supp.3d 151
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, v. Jacob Anthony CHANSLEY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

525 F.Supp.3d 151

UNITED STATES of America,

v.Jacob Anthony CHANSLEY, Defendant.

Case No. 21-cr-3 (RCL)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed March 8, 2021

Kimberly Louise Paschall, U.S. Attorney'S Office, Washington, DC, for United States of America.

Albert S. Watkins, Kodner Watkins, LC, Clayton, MO, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Royce C. Lamberth, United States District Judge

After defendant Jacob Anthony Chansley was arrested on charges stemming from his participation in the January 6, 2021 breach of the United States Capitol, a magistrate judge in the District of Arizona ordered him detained pending trial. ECF No. 11 at 1, 10–13. Defendant now asks this Court to vacate the magistrate judge's order of detention and release him as he awaits trial. ECF No. 12. After the government filed its opposition, ECF No. 17, and defendant replied, ECF No. 18, the Court held a hearing on defendant's motion.

Upon consideration of the parties’ filings, ECF Nos. 7, 12, 17, 18, 23, the arguments set forth at the hearing, and the underlying record, the Court finds that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure defendant's appearance as required or the safety of others and the community. See 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e)(1). Accordingly, the Court will DENY defendant's motion to revoke the magistrate judge's order of detention.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Allegations

The government proffers the following evidence in support of its opposition to defendant's motion for pre-trial release. At approximately 1:00 pm on January 6, 2021, a joint session of Congress convened to certify the Electoral College vote count for the 2020 Presidential Election. ECF No. 7 at 2. As elected members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives met in separate chambers inside the U.S. Capitol building, a large crowd gathered outside. Id. U.S. Capitol Police Officers, as well as temporary and permanent security barriers, stood between the crowd and the Capitol. Id.

Between 1:00 and 2:00 pm, individuals from the crowd forced their way through the barricades and past Capitol Police officers, advancing to the exterior façade of the Capitol building. Id. As the mob approached the building, the joint session continued inside, with then-Vice President Mike Pence presiding in the Senate Chamber. Id. Despite the efforts of Capitol Police officers to prevent the crowd from entering the building, the mob forced its way past the officers and into the Capitol. Id. As the mob broke into the building, Congressional members and Vice President Pence were forced to evacuate. Id. at 2–3.

Defendant was one of the rioters who breached the Capitol building. Id. at 3. His actions that day were extensively photographed and recorded. Id. at 10; see ECF No. 17 at 3 (citing "A Reporter's Video from Inside the Capitol Siege," The New Yorker (Jan. 17, 2021), https://www.newyorker.com/news/video-dept/a-reporters-footage-from-inside-the-capitol-siege) (hereinafter "The New Yorker Footage"). Defendant's unmistakable outfit included a horned coyote-tail headdress; red, white, and blue face paint; gloves; and no shirt. ECF No. 7 at 3. Defendant carried a six-foot pole with an American flag zip-tied to the shaft and a metal spearhead fixed to the top. Id. He also carried a bullhorn. Id.

As rioters smashed the glass windows of the Capitol building and began climbing inside, defendant entered the building through an adjacent doorway. ECF No. 23, Ex. 2 at 00:10–00:34.¹ Once inside, Capitol Police Officer Keith Robishaw attempted to calm the rioters and move people out of the area, but defendant used his bullhorn to encourage the crowd. ECF No. 7 at 3–4. Defendant then approached Officer Robishaw and screamed at him that "this was their house" and that "they were there to take the Capitol, and to get Congressional leaders." Id. at 3. When Officer Robishaw and other officers told the rioters to leave the area from the same way they had entered, most complied. Id. at 4. Defendant, however, disobeyed this order and instead began heading up a stairwell toward the Senate Chamber. Id.

Once inside the Senate Chamber, defendant began pounding his spear on the ground and screaming obscenities. ECF No. 17 at 3. Officer Robishaw, now in the Senate Chamber alone with the rioters, asked defendant to assist him by using his bullhorn to get the rioters out of the Chamber. Id. at 4. Instead of cooperating, however, defendant walked up to the Senate dais where Vice President Pence had been presiding minutes before. Id. Defendant announced that he was going to sit in Vice President Pence's chair because "Mike Pence is a fucking traitor." ECF No. 17 at 4. He then asked another rioter to photograph him. Id. at 5. While standing at the dais, defendant scrawled a note to Vice President Pence on a piece of paper sitting on the desk, reading, "ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME JUSTICE IS COMING!" Id. at 5. Defendant then turned to The New Yorker reporter filming inside the Senate Chamber and repeated his same message: "It's only a matter of time. Justice is coming." Id.

After more rioters entered the Chamber, defendant led the crowd in what he described as a "prayer" over his bullhorn. The New Yorker Footage, supra at 08:02. "Thank you for allowing the United States of America to be reborn," he exclaimed. ECF No. 17 at 5. "Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists, the globalists, and the traitors within our government." Id.

B. Defendant's Interviews and Arrest

The following day, on January 7, 2021, defendant called the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") Washington field office and asked to speak with law enforcement. ECF No. 7 at 5. Defendant confessed that he was the person photographed standing at Vice President Pence's seat on the Senate dais, wearing face paint and a horned headdress. Id. at 5–6. He further explained that he entered the Capitol "by the grace of God" and said he was glad he sat in the Vice President's chair because Vice President Pence is a child-trafficking traitor. Id. at 6. Defendant stated that he did not intend for his note to Vice President Pence to be understood as a threat. Id. But he expressed his interest in returning to Washington, D.C. for the 46th Presidential Inauguration, telling the FBI: "I'll still go, you better believe it. For sure I'd want to be there, as a protestor, as a protestor, fuckin’ a." Id. Later that day, in an interview with NBC News, defendant boasted about his involvement in the events on January 6th, saying, "[t]he fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks and retreat into their underground bunker, I consider that a win." Id. at 6 (citing "Capitol Rioter in Horned Hat Gloats as Feds Work to Identify Suspects," NBC News (Jan. 7, 2021), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/capitol-rioter-horned-hat-gloats-feds-work-identify-suspects-nl253392).

On January 8, 2021, the government initiated this criminal matter by filing a sealed Complaint in this District. ECF No. 1. The Complaint charged defendant with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1752(a)(1) and (2) and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds in violation of 40 U.S.C. §§ 5104(e)(2)(A) and (G). Id. The same day, U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey issued a warrant for defendant's arrest. ECF No. 2-4.

The next day, January 9, 2021, defendant drove to the FBI field office in Phoenix, Arizona to speak with authorities again. ECF No. 7 at 6. At this point, defendant had not yet learned of the warrant for his arrest or the criminal Complaint, as both documents were still sealed. Id. During that second interview, defendant twice told law enforcement that he had plans to drive to the Arizona State Capitol. Id. Corroborating those plans, law enforcement found the horned headdress, face paint, six-foot spear, and bullhorn in defendant's car, which was parked outside the FBI field office. Id. Defendant was then arrested at the Phoenix FBI office. Id.

C. Procedural History

On January 11, 2021, defendant was indicted in this District. ECF No. 3. The Indictment charges defendant with civil disorder in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 231(a)(3) and obstructing an official proceeding in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), both of which are felonies. Id. at 1–2. It also charges defendant with four misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1), disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(2), violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building in violation of 40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(A), and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building in violation of 40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(G). Id. at 1–3.

The same day he was indicted, defendant had an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah M. Fine in the District of Arizona. ECF No. 11 at 8. The government sought defendant's pre-trial detention and, on January 15, 2021, Magistrate Judge Fine held a detention hearing.

United States v. Chansley , 2:21-mj-05000-DMF, ECF No. 5; ECF No. 11 at 17. After hearing argument from both sides, the magistrate judge found that no condition or combination of conditions would reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant as required or the safety of others and the community. ECF No. 11 at 10. Accordingly, she ordered defendant detained pending trial. Id. at 10. In support of the order of detention, Magistrate Judge Fine found:

Despite Mr. Chansley's voluntary communications with federal investigators, the evidence before the Court confirms Mr. Chansley's motivations and capabilities to participate in similar unlawful acts while on pretrial release. Mr. Chansley broke through barricades, unlawfully entered the Capitol Building, disobeyed police orders to leave, refused a police request to quell the crowd using his

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