We all remember the horrific events of January 6, 2021, when rioters and Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to try to overturn President Biden’s election win. I remember watching the Capitol insurrection and staring at the TV in utter shock and horror.
After the Capitol riots, the government held many of the rioters accountable for their actions with lengthy prison sentences. One of the rioters who faced prison time was Jacob Chansley, an alt-right conspiracy theorist that some knew as the QAnon Shaman. However, Chansley’s sentence ended after 27 months, and now, the QAnon Shaman is running for Congress in 2024.
Chansley’s Congressional run makes me worry about the state of our country.
His campaign could cause more Capitol rioters to want to run for office. These people could continue to push their dangerous agenda if they have more power to do so — even after a tremendous crime like the Capitol riots.
Is Chansley remorseful for his actions? I honestly don’t know. Unfortunately, I doubt he’s changed his views. He likely just said anything that he thought would shorten his prison sentence…
This man didn’t commit a minor crime. He stormed the Capitol to try to use force to overturn a presidential election. Chansley took part in the insurrection simply because he didn’t like the election results. And now he plans to run for a place in our national government?
Members of Congress can create and change laws that majorly impact our lives. How is it OK that someone like Chansley is even eligible to run? Chansley’s run sets a dangerous precedent.
Anyone else who participated in the insurrection can also run as an elected official.
Unfortunately, we have few requirements for our congresspeople. The Constitution states that to run for a House position, you must be at least 25 years old, have lived as a US citizen for seven years, and, if elected, do not live in the state where you were elected. That’s it.
Jacob Chansley running for Congress proves that we need to reevaluate the requirements for our congresspeople — and change them immediately. If someone participated in an insurrection against a rightfully elected official, the government should ban them from running as an elected official. We should only elect people who stand against things like the January 6th coup and ban those rioters from holding positions in our government.
Image by Elvert Barnes on Wikimedia Commons
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