Fact Check: Is the video of QAnon Shaman falling off a cycle real? Viral clip debunked

A recent video of a man appearing to be the QAnon Shaman has gone viral on social media, in which the said man falls off a bicycle on the road. However, it was not the 35-year-old real Shaman, Jacob Chansley, as he was released from prison earlier and was moved to a halfway house.

In the viral clip, the man riding the bicycle wore a similar fur headdress with horns and had red, white, and blue face paint. The man was seemingly cycling with one hand on the brakes and the other raised in the air in a victory gesture, most likely to celebrate Jacob Chansley's early release from federal prison.

But the cycle probably bumped into an uneven surface on the road, due to which the man tumbled down and fell on the side along with his cycle. The man's attire led some people to confuse him with Jacob Chansley. However, the man who fell from the bicycle was not the QAnon Shaman.

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QAnon Shaman was arrested in 2021 for the attack on the Capitol building

QAnon Shaman, aka Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, commonly known as Jake Angeli and sometimes even Yellowstone Wolf, is an activist and an American alt-right conspiracy theorist who has been a supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Jacob was photographed partaking in the January 6 storming of the United States Capitol, for which he was convicted of felony charges of knowingly trespassing on restricted grounds without lawful authority, obstructing an official proceeding, and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds.

He was arrested on January 9, 2021, and pleaded guilty to a single charge in September of that year. Jacob received a 41-months sentence in prison in November 2021. He served a portion of the 3.4 years sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Safford, Arizona.

In July of this year, Jacob Chansley was supposed to be released from prison. However, after his early release last week, on March 28, he was moved to a residential re-entry management facility in Arizona’s Phoenix and is expected to be released on May 25.

Jacob’s term is one of the longest received by any of the rioters. He was among nearly 1,000 criminal defendants who were charged in the January 6 riot. Trump supporters stormed into the U.S. Capitol building after President Joe Biden won the election.

Jacob Chansley was also part of a smaller subset of rioters who went into the Senate chamber and sat at the Senate president’s desk. His unique attire, including a headdress with animal fur and horns on it, made him distinct from the crowd.

QAnon Shaman at the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021. (Image via Getty Images)

According to prosecutors, QAnon Shaman proceeded to take his own pictures on the dais and refused to get up from the seat when he was asked to do so by law enforcement. Instead, he used the term "traitor" to describe Mike Pence, the former vice president of the United States. The activist also left a hand-written note on a paper on the platform that read:

“It’s Only A Matter of Time. Justice is Coming!”

QAnon Shaman’s lawyer, Albert Watkins, stated that his client’s early release was appropriate and that Jacob should be allowed to move forward with the next stage of his law-abiding and enriching life.