The QAnon supporter accused of chasing a Capitol police officer up the stairs during the Jan. 6 insurrection is seeking a release from jail, saying “he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies.”
Douglas Jensen, 41, of Iowa asked a judge on Monday to release him from behind bars in Washington, D.C., The Des Moines Register reported.
In a court document filed by his attorney Christopher Davis, Jensen claimed he is a “victim of numerous conspiracy theories that were being fed to him over the internet by a number of very clever people, who were uniquely equipped with slight, if any, moral or social consciousness.”
“Six months later, languishing in a DC Jail cell, locked down most of the time, he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies,” according to the document.
Jensen “fell victim to this barrage of internet sourced info,” according to Davis, and came to the Capitol at the urging of former President Trump to “demonstrate that he was a ‘true patriot.’”
Davis wrote in the court filing that Jensen simply went to the nation’s capital to “observe” the riot.
Jensen had a pocketknife on him for protection because he went to Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on the White House Ellipse before marching to the Capitol, according to Davis.
However, the attorney argued that Jensen did not threaten to physically harm anyone nor did he destroy property.
“Jensen was not an intended part of any group or mob at any time that day,” the filing claims. “He was at the front of the crowd, but in no way leading anyone.”
A widely viewed video posted on Twitter by HuffPost’s Igor Bobic shows Jensen at the front of a group of people going up the stairs, appearing to pursue Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman.
In a federal charging document, investigators said Jensen deliberately positioned himself as spearheading the mob, writing, “He wanted to have his t-shirt seen on video so that ‘Q’ could ‘get the credit.’”
The FBI said that Jensen disregarded multiple orders by an officer to stop and put his hands up and instead “led the crowd toward the officer in a menacing manner, causing the officer to retreat and repeat his commands.”
Jensen’s attorney claims he played no significant role in the deadly violence and even accuses the officer of being threatening.
“Even when threatened by Officer Goodman, armed with his baton hovering over Jensen’s head, Jensen simply states, ‘I will take it for my country,’” his attorney wrote.
Goodman was outnumbered by the protesters who entered the Capitol. While on the steps, he led the mob, which was within feet of the entrance to the Senate chamber, to a back corridor where other law enforcement officers were waiting.
He was hailed as a hero for his efforts to protect lawmakers and staff during the riot, which ultimately left five people dead. The Senate passed a bill in February to award Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal for his actions.
Jensen was transferred from Iowa to Washington after his arrest in Des Moines.
His court filing asks that he be released, saying his wife would be willing to drive him home so he could remain under house arrest.
He is facing seven offenses in connection with the riot, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon. His charges also include assault, resisting or impeding certain officers, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and civil disorder.
His family had reportedly raised concerns about his involvement with online conspiracy theories like QAnon, which claims Trump is fighting against the government and other entities controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles running a child sex-trafficking ring.
Jensen’s brother William Routh, a resident of Clarksville, Ark., told The Associated Press that he warned his brother.
“I did not believe in QAnon and I told him to be careful what he listens to because no one knows what QAnon is. Nobody knows who is Q, but I don’t know where he is getting his information,” Routh said.
Davis is one of multiple lawyers defending Capitol riot suspects who are blaming misinformation and conspiracy theories for their clients’ actions.
Accused rioter Anthony Antonio’s attorney explained that his client began watching Fox News often after he lost his job at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“He became hooked with what I call ‘Foxitus’ or ‘Foxmania’ and became interested in the political aspect and started believing what was being fed to him,” attorney Joseph Hurley said.
Albert Watkins, who is representing so-called QAnon shaman Jacob Chansley, 33, compared misinformation regarding the election to brainwashing or a cult.
“He is not crazy,” Watkins said of his client. “The people who fell in love with [cult leader] Jim Jones and went down to Guyana, they had husbands and wives and lives. And then they drank the Kool-Aid.”
Watkins faced backlash for derogatory remarks he made about the mental state of rioters after he said “they’re all f—— short-bus people.”