For people who still have fears about the threat of a violent takeover of the federal government, a ruling by Washington, D.C., federal Judge Royce C. Lamberth has gone a long way to relieve such fears. In a decision denying bail to one of the January 6 protestors, Jacob Anthony Chansley, who is often referred to as the “QAnon Shaman,” Lamberth no doubt succeeded in calming the fears of Washington lawmakers and members of the mainstream press who remain convinced that there was a serious danger posed by the January 6 “insurrectionists,” “revolutionaries,” “insurgents,” “rebels,” “terrorists,” “traitors,” “overthrowers,” and “rioters” who were supposedly attempting to violently take over the reins of the federal government.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this phenomenon is the weapon that Chansley chose to lead the charge to take over the Capitol. He used a spear, a weapon so dangerous that Lamberth cited it as one of the principal reasons that he was denying pretrial bail to Chansley.
A spear? Yes, a spear! What could be more dangerous than that? No, don’t say an AR-15 or a Glock 19. Those weapons run the risk of malfunctioning or misfiring. Moreover, unless a person is highly trained in the use of firearms, one runs the definite risk of missing the target when firing.
A spear is obviously a much more effective weapon to employ when trying to violently overthrow a government. A spear doesn’t lock up and misfire. And it’s virtually impossible to miss with a spear. Moreover, its history as a weapon goes back a lot further than the history of guns.
Good for Lamberth in understanding the gravity of the threat that Chansley posed to America and continues to pose to America with his spear. Good for him for keeping him in jail pending his trial. Why let that pesky bail requirement in the Bill of Rights endanger the American people with the possibility of more spear attacks?
In fact, what I found surprising about Lamberth’s decision is that he seems to have failed to note a much more dangerous weapon that Chansley was using during his attempt to conquer the U.S. government. Horns. Yes, horns! He’s the guy who had his face covered with war paint (which is scary in and of itself) and was wearing bull horns on his head.
Just think what he could have done. He could have simply lowered his head and charged members of Congress, Capitol guards, and National Guard troops with his horns. Just think how many bullfighters have been hurt or even killed in the bullring in that way? How could Lamberth have missed the grave danger posed by Chansley’s horns?
In any event, thank goodness for our federal judiciary in our nation’s capital. Thank goodness they are keeping us safe by keeping people in jail pending the outcome of their trial.