Q-Shaman, the Donald Trump fan who spearheaded the Capitol takeover and his extreme conspiracy theory

For those who don’t closely follow the underground stories of American politics, this is the image that brought surrealism to a scene of extreme violence never seen before: known on social media as “Q-Shaman “, Jake Angeli, was the Donald Trump fanatic who led the raid on the Capitol in leather, with a fur hat and horns, and with his face painted as if he was Mel Gibson playing Scottish revolutionary Willian Wallace.

Perhaps the reason for the eccentricity is that Angeli is an aspiring actor from Arizona, who has also devoted himself unsuccessfully to music and voiceover. However, in recent years he has become one of Trump’s staunchest supporters and one of the main promoters of the conspiracy theory called “QAnon” (short for Q-Anonymous), which circulates among the most popular sectors. far right. American.

As reported in US press publications, this theory argues that there are maneuvers to leak top-secret Trump administration data and, worse still, that Democratic Party leaders are involved in a sex trafficking ring. of children.

“Since the beginning of the QAnon movement, its supporters have believed that President Donald Trump was engaged in a secret struggle to stop powerful Democratic politicians, whom they believe to be pedophiles and cannibals“summarized the online newspaper The Daily Dot.

Angeli rose to fame online for promoting these ideas and earned the nickname “Shaman” for her frequent public appearances with fur, horns and feathers.

New York Times columnist Kevin Roose was one of the first to notice the presence of “Q-Shaman” and other proponents of the “QAnon” theory in Wednesday’s protests that ended in violent seizure of the Capitol to prevent senators from validating the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the last presidential elections.

“Among the folks at QAnon who expected Trump to start announcing mass arrests today and the types of militias that have been promoting it for weeks, there’s a chance it could get really ugly, “Roose said. His post on Twitter ended up being an omen.

On Wednesday, “Q Shaman” went from being a fringe right-wing figure to leading the violent Capitol takeover in which even a Trump supporter was shot and died soon after from the injury. .

Travis View, who presents himself on social media as a supporter of the QAnon theory, tweeted that “Jake Angeli aka ‘Q-Shaman’ is definitely a supporter of Trump.”

Jake Angeli even attended an event last November hosted by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, to repudiate the outcome of the election that gave Biden the victory.

This Wednesday “Q-Shaman” led the advance on the Capitol and his image became an emblem of the violent and unprecedented demonstration. He was seen arguing with the first security guards who tried to prevent the break-in and, shortly after, seated in the compound.