Capitol Mob Aimed to ‘Assassinate’ Elected Officials, Feds Say

Federal prosecutors said in court papers that the pro-Trump mob that invaded the US Capitol last week was aimed at "capturing and assassinating elected officials."

In the case against Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who took part in the uprising while wearing face paint, no shirt and a fuzzy hat with horns, the remark came in a motion that prosecutors filed late Thursday.

Prosecutors say that after Chansley climbed up to the dais where Vice President Mike Pence had been presiding moments earlier, Chansley wrote a threatening note to Pence that said: “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”

The Secret Service and US Capitol Police had forced Pence and other congressional leaders out of the chamber before the rioters burst into the building.  

“Strong evidence, including Chansley’s own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government,” prosecutors wrote in their memo urging the judge to keep Chansley behind bars.

Chansley's attorney, Gerald Williams, did not return a phone call and email Friday morning requesting comment. In his case, a detention hearing is scheduled for later on Friday.

The FBI has been investigating whether any of the rioters had conspiracies to abduct members of Congress and hold them hostage, concentrating especially on the men seen holding handcuffs and pepper spray with plastic zip tie.

In the case of a retired Air Force officer who they claimed held plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he wanted to "take hostages," prosecutors posed a similar possibility on Friday. But so far, the Justice Department has not officially released any concrete information on the plans or clarified how the rioters planned to carry them out.

On Saturday, Chansley, who calls himself the 'QAnon Shaman' and has been a regular at Trump rallies for a long time, surrendered to the FBI field office in Phoenix.

News pictures show him shirtless in a riot, his face painted and wearing a fur hat with horns, his flag tied to a wooden pole topped with a spear.

Chansley told investigators he came to the Capitol “at the request of the president that all ‘patriots’ come to DC on January 6, 2021.” An indictment unsealed Tuesday in Washington him with civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, and demonstrating in a Capitol building.

More than 80 people are facing charges stemming from the violence, including more than 40 people in federal court. The federal charges brought so far are primarily for crimes such as illegal entry but prosecutors have said they are weighing more serious charges against at least some of the rioters.

Michael Sherwin, acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, said this week that he has organized a group of national security and public corruption prosecutors whose sole focus is to bring sedition charges for the “most heinous acts that occurred in the Capitol.”

During a hearing in Texas on Thursday, a prosecutor urged a judge to keep Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr locked up, saying the man meant to “take hostages.” Brock was arrested Sunday in Texas after being photographed on the Senate floor during the deadly riot wearing a helmet and heavy vest and carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs.

“He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the US government,” Assistant US Attorney Jay Weimer, without providing specifics.

Brock’s attorney, Brook Antonio II, noted that the man has only been charged with misdemeanors. Antonio said there was no direct evidence of Brock breaking doors or windows to get into the Capitol, or doing anything violent once he was inside.