A lawyer for Jacob A. Chansley, seen here in the U.S. Capitol in a picture reproduced in charging documents, says President Donald Trump should pardon his client for following Trump’s instructions.
A lawyer for Jacob A. Chansley, seen here in the U.S. Capitol in a picture reproduced in charging documents, says President Donald Trump should pardon his client for following Trump’s instructions.
Supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
UPDATED at 3 p.m. Wednesday with judge’s decision.
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered jail officials to provide organic food for the “QAnon Shaman,” one of the people charged with participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The ruling was in response to a motion by Clayton lawyer Albert Watkins, who said Jacob Chansley had not eaten since Jan. 25 and had lost more than 20 pounds. Chansley has followed an organic diet for eight years, the motion says.
Watkins’ motion says that in Chansley’s belief system, “non-organic food, which contains unnatural chemicals, would act as an ‘object intrusion’ onto his body and cause serious illness if he were to eat it.”
In a court hearing held by Zoom, lawyers for the District of Columbia jail where Chansley is being held said they could no find no requirement for organic food in shamanism.
But U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said that he would defer to an earlier decision by federal prison officials to provide organic food to Chansley. Chansley was arrested in Arizona, where he lives, and later taken to Washington to face six federal charges including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.