The 'QAnon shaman' Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, who stormed into the Capitol last week in fur headdress and horns and created rampage, was thrown out of the Navy in 2007 for allegedly refusing to take an anthrax vaccine, new reports reveal. Chansley, 33, is presently in jail after he surrendered himself to the FBI in Phoenix on Saturday for taking active part in the violent riots protests the certification of Joe Biden's election victory.
According to Task and Purpose, Chansley, more popularly known as Jake Angeli, was booted from the Navy due to his stubborn attitude and refusal to accept an anthrax vaccine after a two-year career. Since then he has been living in Arizona with his mother. Chansley has been a frequent participant in Trump rallies in Phoenix over the past few months and is known as the QAnon Shaman, often appearing in the same fur headdress, horns and tan pants with no shirt that he sported at the Capitol riot.
Strange Mindset
Chansley is a well-known supporter of the QAnon conspiracy in his home state of Arizona. Besides being a failed actor, Chansley had a short-lived career in the Navy. He was booted out of the services after he refused to accept a vaccine dose for anthrax in 2007, while all his other colleagues complied, a Navy official confirmed to Military.com.
Chansley had joined the Navy as supply clerk on September 26, 2005. Thereafter, he finished recruit training and completed Military Occupational Specialty School and was assigned to the USS Kitty Hawk in March 2006. After serving there for more than a year, he was transferred to a Transient Personnel Unit in Puget Sound in Washington state September 29, 2007.
However, he was dismissed from the Navy a few days later on October 11 as a seaman's apprentice, meaning he got out of the Navy as a boot E-2 after two years and 15 days of service. This is roughly about 15 years before the Capitol protest.
Navy officials have so far declined to comment much about his nature of dismissal. Chansley, reportedly, was a stubborn person in nature and was averse to comply with the mandatory anthrax vaccine required to be taken by everyone in the military as anthrax spores have been used as biological weapons. The anthrax vaccine fights against a rare, but serious bacterial illness.
Decorated Officer
The anthrax vaccine, according to the Military Health Service, is required for troops that are deployed to the Middle East and Korea. Some other personnel, including emergency response and other units, are also required to take the vaccine, which is given in a five-dose series with annual boosters.
Chansley was against the vaccine from the very beginning because he reportedly felt that the vaccine didn't guarantee safety. The vaccine created controversy in the early 2000s because it was found to be effective against bacterium that's acquired through the skin, but not when the bacterium is inhaled. Owing to concerns about the safety of the vaccine in October 2004 a judge ruled that it was illegal for the federal government to mandate anthrax vaccinations.
That said, Chansley had quite an eventful two-year term in the Navy. Military records show he was given National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, and the Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon. However, he didn't get any personal awards.
Chansley was arrested on Saturday after he surrendered to the FBI and has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, the Department of Justice announced this weekend.
He was photographed among pro-Trump demonstrators who carried out a violent takeover of the Capitol on January 6. He was shirtless, wearing a horned fur headdress and red, white and blue face paint during the riots. He's being held in a quarantine section of a detention facility.
