Monday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson released multiple never-before-seen surveillance videos from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, including one clip that shows Capitol officers leading the “Q-Anon Shaman,” Jacob Chansley, through the halls and onto the Senate floor.
Chansley, better known as the “Q-Anon Shaman,” went viral when video of him presiding over the Senate chamber surfaced while the breach occurred. Now, Carlson’s latest exposé shows Chansley was ushered into the hallowed room.
Donning a horned helmet and war paint, Chansley can be seen walking with – and by – numerous Capitol officers on his way to the Senate floor.
“They helped him. They acted as his tour guides,” the most-watched host on cable television said.
In the video released by Carlson, Chansley can be heard thanking the officers for allowing rally-goers into the Capitol halls as he spoke at the Senate podium.
“Thank you Heavenly Father for taking the inspiration needed to these police officers to allow us in this building,” Chansley said.
According to Carlson, in the tapes reviewed by him and his team, no officer ever attempted to stop him from progressing toward the chambers.
“We counted at least nine officers who were within touching distance of unarmed Jacob Chansley. Not one of them tried to slow him down,” Carlson said.
🚨BREAKING: Never before seen video of January 6 shows Jacob Chansley, the QAnon Shaman, being led through the Capitol by police the entire time that he was in the building. pic.twitter.com/rikoRMWezF
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 7, 2023
Chansley, who became the public face of the so-called insurrection, pleaded guilty for his involvement and was sentenced to 41 months in prison.
“Chansley understood that Capitol Police were his allies,” Carlson later continued, before posing a question that many Americans are now asking themselves after viewing the footage. “If [Chansley] was in fact committing such a grave crime, why didn’t the officers standing right next to him place him under arrest?”
In light of Carlson’s exposure, multiple Republican Senators have voiced disapproval of the release of the footage; Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) called the videos shown on Tucker’s show “bullshit,” while Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called releasing the clips a “mistake.”
BREAKING: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls it a "mistake" for Tucker Carlson and Fox News to release the never-before-seen J6 footage. pic.twitter.com/8d2c75Z3eK
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 7, 2023
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) begged Fox Corporation chair Rupert Murdoch to censor Carlson before Tuesday evening’s show revealed even more best-kept secrets about that day.
Schumer: "Rupert Murdoch has a special obligation to stop Tucker Carlson from going on tonight [and] from letting him go on again and again and again [because] our democracy depends on it." pic.twitter.com/uld6eaCl3C
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 7, 2023