Jacob Chansley, an Arizona man whose face paint and bison horns look became an icon of the deadly assault on the Capitol on Jan.6, said it is not dangerous and asked to be released.
Al Watkins, Bison Man’s attorney, said in a petition Tuesday to a District of Columbia court that his client is suffering from digestive tract problems from jail food and that the spearhead Chansley was carrying the day of the riots was simply an “ornament.”
Chansley, 33, was arrested on January 9 in Arizona and remains being held in an Alexandria, Virginia jail. The man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of civil disobedience and blocking an official proceeding, in addition to four other minor charges.
In the weeks he has been in prison, Chansley went on a hunger strike twice until he was given organic food for “religious reasons” as the man is a self-proclaimed shaman and a member of the far-right group Qanon.
The District of Columbia District Attorney’s Office declined to discuss Chansley’s request for release from prison, and a Washington DC judge is scheduled for a March 5 hearing to discuss the detainee’s request.
Five people died and hundreds were arrested after the violent disturbances in the federal Capitol, the same day that Congress was to ratify the electoral victory of Joe Biden and minutes after former President Donald Trump encouraged his followers to march towards the headquarters of the Congress to “fight like hell.”
“Yellowstone Wolf” described himself as a “chosen one” sent by Qanon, a group formed on internet forums and which has been labeled by the FBI as a potential threat of domestic terrorism.