DOJ rejects QAnon Shaman's request to get his Jan. 6 helmet and spear back

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department doesn't want the Jan. 6 defendant known as "QAnon Shaman" to get back a helmet he wore and spear that he held when he stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021 — at least for now.

Jacob Chansley, who has completed his prison sentence in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, had filed a motion seeking the return of his property back in May. He's also seeking to modify the terms and conditions of his supervised release due to recent litigation in other Jan. 6 cases that may impact his sentence.

The government wrote in a court filing on Friday that Chansley sought the return “of a spear and a helmet used to project strength during the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Defendant was one of the first persons to occupy the building, and Defendant led chants on the floor of the U.S. Senate.”

But the government said it wants to hold onto that property as evidence in case Chansley challenges his sentence further.

The government wrote it wasn't sure whether Chansley planned to "file any collateral attack on his conviction" after the Supreme Court recently sided in part with another Jan. 6 defendant who challenged an "obstruction of an official proceeding charge" that has been brought against hundreds of charged Capitol rioters, including Chansley. The Supreme Court's ruling only had an immediate impact on a few dozen of the more than 1,400 cases brought forward in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, but the full impact will play out in federal district and appellate courts as judges interpret the Supreme Court's ruling.

Chansley pleaded guilty in September 2021 and U.S. District Judge Royce Lambert sentenced him to more than three years in prison in November 2021. The