US Capitol riots: Horned man 'QAnon Shaman' Jake Angeli arrested

Jake Angeli AKA Jacob Anthony Chansley has been arrested for his role in the riot. Photo / AP

The horned rioter who became the face of the deadly assault on the US Capitol has been arrested for his role in the insurrection.

Jake Angeli, real name Jacob Anthony Chansley, has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Court documents reveal that Angeli called the FBI to identify himself after his painted face went around the world earlier this week.

He told investigators "he was the male in the face paint and headdress in the Vice President's chair in the Senate".

In the call, Angeli claimed he was a "patriot" and came to Washington DC at the request of President Trump.

Angeli and others dressed variously as frontiersmen, bandits, soldiers or just wore MAGA hats when they overwhelmed police and forced their way into the Capitol.

It was a deliberate breach to interrupt Congress while it was in the process of counting state electoral votes to officially confirm President-elect Joe Biden's election victory.

Some Republicans have erroneously claimed the protesters, and Angeli in particular, are members of the far-left group Antifa.

Angeli, a regular protester outside his home state capitol in Phoenix, gave an interview to Arizona Central last year blaming the media for criticising Trump and inflating the dangers of coronavirus.

Jake Angeli, 32, sporting horns and body paint, yells his thanks to President @realDonaldTrump and Q.

The latter is presumably a reference to QAnon, a controversial far-right group. @azcentral pic.twitter.com/RJ990L0xA2

— BrieAnna J. Frank 🌵 (@brieannafrank) May 5, 2020

Small crowd gathered right outside Capitol doors calling for Gov. Ducey to come out calling him shameful and a traitor. A few began to bang on the windows but another protester with a megaphone told them to stop. pic.twitter.com/VgX1NeSzQI

— Madeline Ackley (@Mkayackley) January 6, 2021

"I think it's important that the president of the United States knows … that there's good patriotic Americans who see things he's going through," Angeli told the newspaper.

"And are willing to stand up and say 'Hey man, I see what you're going through and I salute you, thank you for doing your job'."

Angeli said there had been "a lot of hysteria … that was completely unnecessary" about the world-beating number of US coronavirus cases.

Angeli turns up regularly in costume at pro-Trump events, baring his tattoos which include depictions of the president's Mexico border wall, and sometimes carrying a sign saying "Q Sent Me".

He has shouted at passers-by "You all know who Q is?" and explained Q "was a government agent who wanted to 'take the country back' from paedophiles and globalists."

- Additional reporting, news.com.au