Jacob Chansley, aka the QAnon Shaman is set to take a competency exam in prison aimed at establishing if he is fit to understand the legal case against him, according to court records.
Last month, US District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered that Chansley undergo a psychological evaluation.
Lamberth said the evalaution would help to determine if Chansley is “presently suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that he is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist properly in his defense.”
In a court filing on Saturday, the government said that Chansley has been detained at a correctional facility in Littleton, Colorado, where he will undergo his competency evaluation.
Chansley, dressed in horns and fur, was among the crowd of Trump supporters that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 intent on stopping Congress from certifying the results of the election for President Joe Biden.
He pleaded not guilty in late January to six charges related to the riots, including knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Chansley’s lawyer, Albert Watkins, argued in court that his client is autistic, and he was taken advantage of by Donald Trump. Watkins also said Chansley thought the was acting on the former president’s orders when he stormed the Capitol and that his client’s already fragile mental state is deteriorating in prison.
Watkins also previously described the insurrectionists as “f—ing short-bus people,” who have “brain damage” and had been manipulated by years of relentless propaganda by Trump in comments to Talking Point memo.
According to Insider, If the test found that Chansley isn’t mentally fit to answer the charges against him in court, he’ll likely be spared a jail sentence, and would instead be treated at a prison hospital if found guilty.
