US Capitol riots: 'QAnon Shaman' willing to testify against Donald Trump

Jacob Chansley, also known as the Qanon Shaman, says he attended the Capitol riot "at the request of the president". Photo / AP

A man who stormed the US Capitol building while wearing a horned headdress is now willing to testify against former president Donald Trump.

Jacob Chansley, who is also known as the "QAnon Shaman", is willing to appear before Trump's impeachment trial in February, his lawyer Albert Watkins told Associated Press.

However, Watkins says Chansley has not yet made contact with any members of the Senate.

Chansley has claimed he attended the January 6 riot "at the request of the president that all 'patriots' come to DC on January 6".

A QAnon flag amongst Austrian flags at a protest against coronavirus restrictions in Vienna on January 16. Photo / AP

He requested a pardon from Trump but when this did not happen, Watkins said Chansley felt "betrayed" and "duped" by the president.

"He regrets very, very much having not just been duped by the president but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position to make decisions he should not have made," Watkins said, according to Missouri's NBC-affiliated television station KSDK.

More than a week after Donald Trump departed the White House, shattering their hopes that he would expose a worldwide cabal of powerful devil-worshipping paedophiles, some QAnon adherents have concocted ever more elaborate stories to keep their faith alive.

But others are turning to therapy and online support groups to talk about the damage done when their beliefs collided with reality.

The QAnon conspiracy theory emerged on fringe internet message boards in 2017. At root, the movement claims Trump is waging a secret battle against the "deep state" and a sect of Satanic child abusers who dominate Hollywood, big business, the media and government.

It is named after Q, an anonymous poster who believers claim has top-secret government clearance and whose posts are taken as predictions about "the plan" and the coming "storm" and "great awakening" in which evil will be defeated.

Backers of the movement were vocal in their support for Trump and helped fuel the insurrectionists who overran the US Capitol this month. QAnon is also growing in popularity overseas.

- With AP