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By Matthew DeWees
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – The “QAnon Shaman” called President Donald Trump’s pardons for him and other Jan. 6 rioters “a brilliant political move.” Another Arizona man in the mob called his pardon a relief but criticized Trump for wiping away convictions for others who attacked police.
“It’s a really nice weight off my shoulders,” said Cory Konold, a Tucson man who was near the front of the crowd that day with his sister. But, he added, “I don’t think truly violent offenders should be fully pardoned.”
Roughly 15 of the 1,583 defendants who received clemency from Trump are from Arizona.
That includes the Phoenix man who became the face of the mob, Jacob Angeli-Chansley, widely known as the “QAnon Shaman.” Also on that list: Ray Epps, who was targeted with death threats after Tucker Carlson and other rightwing media figures promoted an unfounded conspiracy theory that he acted as a provocateur in the crowd on behalf of the FBI.
Another Arizona man who received clemency, Edward Vallejo, was one of the ultra-right Oath Keepers assigned to a “quick reaction force” – a team that waited at a Virginia hotel in case armed reinforcements were needed at the Capitol. He was serving a three-year prison term until his release Monday when Trump issued the pardons.
Angeli-Chansley was one of the first 30 people to breach the building, according to federal authorities.
He roamed the Capitol bare-chested in face paint and a furry horned hat, carrying a spear. He took pictures of himself in the seat Vice President Mike Pence had occupied until his security detail whisked him from the Senate chamber. He told an officer that Pence was a “traitor” for refusing to overturn the election as Congress certified the results.
“I went in to prevent vandalism, violence, and theft … to ensure order, stability and nonviolence,” Angeli-Chansley told Cronkite News by phone two days after the pardon. But, he said, “I entered the building illegally and for that I should have been prosecuted.”
Angeli-Chansley had complained that his conviction deprived him of the right to own a firearm. Soon after learning of his pardon he posted on X, “I am gonna buy some … guns. I love this country!”
Arrested three days after the riot, he served 18 months of a 41-month sentence before his release for good behavior.
“I have no excuse. No excuse whatsoever. The behavior is indefensible,” Angeli-Chansley told the judge at sentencing.
Angeli-Chansley practices shamanism and promoted the QAnon conspiracy movement that surfaced early in Trump’s first term. Its central tenet is that Trump was at war with a cabal of cannibalistic, pedophile Satan-worshippers in the “deep state,” Democratic Party and Hollywood.
After the pardon, he praised Trump for trying to rebuild trust in a society “demoralized” about its institutions.
“I don’t agree with assaulting police officers,” he said. But, he added, “A very, very, very small handful were violent offenders.”
He called it hypocrisy for Democrats to criticize Trump given the flurry of pardons Joe Biden issued in his final days as president – and the blind eye he says Democrats turned to the violence of antifa and Black Lives Matter protests.
“I actually stopped violent people from breaking into the building,” he said. “I stood in front of a violent mob single-handedly.”
As of two weeks ago, 1,583 people had been charged in connection with the riot, according to Justice Department records. Of those, 1,270 had been convicted, including 172 for assaulting law enforcement.
Vallejo was one of 14 defendants who received commutations, freeing them from prison without wiping away their convictions. The rest received full pardons. In cases that hadn’t yet gone to trial, Trump ordered the Justice Department to drop the charges.
The commutation list included Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, who was serving an 18-year term for seditious conspiracy for planning the attack.
Epps, the target of rightwing conspiracy theories, received probation with no time behind bars. That only fueled rumors that he was working with federal authorities, which he denied, as did the FBI director at the time, Christopher Wray.
The longest sentence for a defendant linked to Arizona, 78 months, was handed down to James McGrew, who was arrested in Glendale nearly five months after the riot.
According to federal prosecutors, he struck several officers during the riot and tried to take the baton from one of them. He also threw a long wooden handrail with metal brackets at officers as they retook the building.
During the riot, he lifted his shirt to wipe his eyes, revealing a distinctive belly tattoo that says “KING JAMES.” The image was captured on a police body camera and was used later to identify him.
Konold, from Tucson, was not accused of any violence.
He said people who fought with officers should get probation and counseling rather than a full pardon, and they should be assessed to determine if they pose a danger to society.
“I regret what I did,” he said. “I feel like I had a real strong lapse of judgment that day.”
Konold was sentenced to 30 days in prison on a felony count of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. His sister, Felicia Konold, got 45 days.
They were among the first rioters to reach the West Plaza of the Capitol after the mob trampled barricades and rushed past officers, according to the Justice Department.
Both worked with others to push back police who were trying to hold off the crowd, and both entered the Capitol. Cory Konold also took a police riot helmet as a souvenir. He tried it on before leaving the Capitol and quickly regretted that, too, because the inside was coated in pepper spray.
“That wasn’t very fun,” he said.
He’s a registered Democrat, but his sister, a Trump supporter, persuaded him to join her for a road trip to Washington, D.C. He said he didn’t know about the “Stop the Steal” rally and had no inkling it would turn into a riot.
While walking to the rally, he said, the siblings met a member of the Proud Boys who offered to keep them safe if they stayed close. Cory Konold later learned that the attention was at least partly because the Proud Boys member found his sister attractive.
“I wasn’t there personally for any political aspect (or) to harm anyone. … I just wanted to keep my sister safe,” he said.
Democrats have condemned the pardons, especially those for violent rioters.
“Releasing these criminals back on our streets sends a dangerous message that political violence and assaults on police officers will be excused and forgiven,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement.
One convicted rioter from Idaho known as the “MAGA granny,” Pamela Hemphill, who served 60 days behind bars, said she rejected the clemency because doing otherwise “would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative.”
“Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol Police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation,” she told the BBC. “I pleaded guilty because I was guilty.”
Some Republican lawmakers who fled to safety during the riot shrugged off the pardons. A few chastised Trump.
“If you attack a police officer, that’s a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, told CNN. “We need to continue to say we are a party of law and order.”
For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.
