Who is the horned man who stormed the Capitol?

The standout figure among the protesters who stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday was the shirtless tattooed man wearing a horned furry hat, face paint and carrying a megaphone.

Looking like Davy Crockett but wearing a Native American-style headdress, the 32-year-old is a hardcore Trump supporter from Arizona and a familiar face at rallies and protests.

He is Jake Angeli, a sometime actor and voiceover artist who also goes by the name of QAnon Shaman.

QAnon conspiracy theorists believe Donald Trump is in a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media who will one day be arrested and executed.

Angeli and others dressed variously as frontiersmen, bandits, soldiers or just wearing MAGA hats overwhelmed police and forced their way into the Capitol on Wednesday.

It was a deliberate breach to interrupt Congress while it was in the process of counting state electoral votes to officially ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.

Some Republicans have erroneously claimed the protesters, and Angeli in particular, are members of the far left group Antifa.

Angeli, a regular protester outside his home state capitol in Phoenix, gave an interview to Arizona Central last year blaming the media for criticising Mr Trump and inflating the dangers of coronavirus.

9:32 am - myself + other journalists here are being harassed for wearing masks.

One man says: “It’s submission, it’s muzzling yourself, it looks weak - especially for men.”

We’re being accused of fear-mongering, not knowing anything + being “pieces of shit.”

??@azcentral

— BrieAnna J. Frank ? (@brieannafrank) May 5, 2020

Small crowd gathered right outside Capitol doors calling for Gov. Ducey to come out calling him shameful and a traitor. A few began to bang on the windows but another protester with a megaphone told them to stop. pic.twitter.com/VgX1NeSzQI

— Madeline Ackley (@Mkayackley) January 6, 2021

“I think it’s important that the president of the United States knows … that there’s good patriotic Americans who see things he’s going through,” Angeli told the newspaper.

“And are willing to stand up and say ‘Hey man, I see what you’re going through and I salute you, thank you for doing your job’.”

Angeli said there had been “a lot of hysteria … that was completely unnecessary” about the world-beating number of US coronavirus cases.

Angeli turns up regularly in costume at pro-Trump events, baring his tattoos and sometimes carrying a sign saying “Q Sent Me”.

His tattoos include depictions of the president’s Mexico border wall, and a set of three nested triangles, an ancient Viking symbol known as a valknut which has been appropriated by far right or neo-Nazi groups.

He has shouted at passers-by “You all know who Q is?” and explained Q “was a government agent who wanted to ‘take the country back’ from paedophiles and globalists.”

On a since deleted performance profile of Angeli on backstage.com, he is described as skilled in singing, screenwriting, public speaking and accents.

Balding and bearded, he was photographed against a backdrop of First Nations objects such as a dreamcatcher, hatchet and a drum.

Angeli’s appearance in his horned hat on Wednesday had people dubbing him Jamiroquai, for the English funk band lead singer Jay Kay whose array of elaborate hats include one of a similar shape.
 

On one of Angeli’s Facebook pages, he is pictured shaking hands with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, during a visit by the President’s personal lawyer to Arizona.

Angeli has captioned the image. “Got to shake Rudy’s hand … what an honour it is to be present.

“Hold the line patriots! USA will prevail, we will stop the steal! Cuz as always God wins!”

Hours before the violence at the Capitol in which a pro-Trump supporter was fatally shot, Giuliani encouraged supporters to pursue a “trial by combat”.

candace.sutton@news.com.au