The Babylon Bee mocks January 6 hysteria with 'The Most Deadliest Day'



The Babylon Bee has come a long way since its days as a small comedy website making in-jokes about dispensational theology.

In a mere eight years, it's become a major media company with the clout to land interviews with Elon Musk and John Cleese, while arguably overtaking the Onion as America's best satire website.

Mann's shrewd portrayal of an overconfident yet ignorant man-child who sees the world through the simplistic lens of superheroes and supervillains deftly mocks what passes for journalism these days.

Like that formerly great institution, the Bee can be a little hacky or partisan at times, but it's consistently funny and regularly risks the occasional big swing.

The Bee's books "The Postmodern Pilgrim's Progress" and "How to Be a Perfect Christian," for example, are both funny and surprisingly honest about modern challenges in the evangelical world. Having met a few of the Bee's writers and seeing them grow, I’m generally impressed by the wit and cultural relevance the site exhibits.

So I was particularly eager for the release of the company's first feature film, "January 6: The Most Deadliest Day."

The film follows "investigative journalist" Garth Strudelfudd (Babylon Bee editor Kyle Mann, also credited as writer) as he bumbles his way through interviews with conservative pundits and January 6 participants in an attempt to uncover the truth about the darkest day in American history.

Much of the joke here is Mann's earnest investigative journalist persona: He is a deluded crusader convinced that his efforts are crucial to both saving democracy and honoring the “billions” of people who died that day.

There's no mistaking the movie's target audience; it's unlikely that anyone who sees January 6 as a brush with a fascist coup will have his mind changed by what Michael Knowles or Dennis Prager has to say. The pundits in the film are content to make the usual observations about media malfeasance and declining public trust, while pointing out once again that Trump never actually called for violence.

"The Most Deadliest Day" flirts with actual journalism when it focuses on infamous January 6 participants like Jacob Chansley and Adam Johnson. But instead of taking this opportunity to humanize the people labeled as "insurrectionists" by the mainstream media, the movie mostly uses them as props to expose the vacuousness of its fake journalists.

And ultimately it is the media that "The Most Deadliest Day" means to target. This isn't meant to be a hard-hitting expose in the manner of Tucker Carlson or the Epoch Times. Nor is it meant to reach out to those for whom January 6 is one of the high holidays of the liberal liturgical calendar. Unlike Matt Walsh's recent "Am I Racist?" "The Most Deadliest Day" stays behind a subscriber paywall, explicitly marking it for those already in on the joke.

As I’ve written previously, the great risk of every conservative documentary is that it sacrifices persuasion on the altar of reassuring propaganda. But sometimes reassuring propaganda is what's called for.

The Bee knows its audience, and the audience is fed up with media-fueled January 6 hysteria, especially as it ramps up ahead of next month's contentious election. Mann's shrewd portrayal of an overconfident yet ignorant man-child who sees the world through the simplistic lens of superheroes and supervillains deftly mocks what passes for journalism these days, and it's both satisfying and often hilarious.

Newly Released J6 Tapes Show Capitol Police Giving Guided Tour To So-Called ‘QAnon Shaman’

Capitol police officers are seen giving the 'Qanon shaman," the Democrats' face of the Jan. 6 insurrection, a guided tour.

'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley gets 41 months in prison for Capitol riot crime



Jacob Chansley, the "QAnon Shaman" whom prosecutors called the "public face" of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced to 41 months in prison Wednesday.

Chansley pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding. He was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol building and the distinctive face paint and horns he wore during the events of that day feature prominently in pictures taken during the riot. Chansley admitted to using a bullhorn to rile up other rioters and to writing a threatening message to Vice President Mike Pence saying, "It's Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!"

While Chansley was never accused of violence, prosecutors argued that as "the public face of the Capitol riot" he needed to receive a harsh sentence for carrying a flagpole as a weapon, ignoring police orders to leave the building, and gloating about his actions after the riot had ended.

"What you did was terrible," Judge Royce Lamberth said at Chansley's sentencing hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C. Though lawyers for the defense had argued for leniency, the judge said Chansley's actions were so serious he could not "justify" a sentence lower than the minimum suggested by federal guidelines.

Chansley's sentence of 41 months in prison is tied for the longest sentence issued to date for any of the Capitol riot defendants who have pleaded guilty, according to CNBC News.

"I was wrong for entering the Capitol. I have no excuse. No excuse whatsoever," Chansley said. "The behavior is indefensible."

Speaking for himself before he was sentenced, Chansley cited Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and the Stephen King movie "The Shawshank Redemption" in comments expressing his remorse.

"I am truly, truly repentant of my actions," he said.

He denied being a violent man and "domestic terrorist" while admitting to his crime.

"I broke the law, and if I believe in freedom, and if I believe in law and order, and I believe in responsibility, then I should do what Gandhi would do, and take responsibility," Chansley said.

"I hope that you see my heart and my desire to live the life of Christ or Gandhi," Chansley he told the judge.

"I make this holy vow and this sacred oath, I will never re-offend again," he added.

Of the 650 people arrested for participating in the riot, more than 120 defendants have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor charges punishable by no more than six months in prison.

Chansley and Scott Fairlamb, a New Jersey gym owner who last week was also sentenced to 41 months in prison for assaulting a police officer during the riot, have received the longest sentences so far.

Prosecutors want 'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley sentenced to more than 4 years in prison



Federal prosecutors want Arizona resident Jacob Chansley, the "QAnon Shaman" who wore horns and paraded shirtless through the halls of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, to spend more than four years in prison for his role in the riot.

In a 28-page sentencing memo filed Tuesday, prosecutors requested that Chansley be sentenced to 51 months in prison — the longest term allowed by guidelines — plus three years of supervised release and $2,000 in restitution fees, KTAR-FM reported.

The filing referred to Chansley as "the public face of the Capitol riot," and indeed images of his distinctive horns and face paint were ubiquitous in news reports on the events of Jan. 6.

"The defendant was among the first 30 rioters to penetrate the U.S. Capitol building," prosecutors said. "The defendant then stalked the hallowed halls of the building, riling up other members of the mob with his screaming obscenities about our nation's lawmakers, and flouting the 'opportunity' to rid our government of those he has long considered to be traitors."

The defense filed a 23-page memo asking for a sentence of time served. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves argued, however, that a longer sentence is needed to serve as a deterrent to other would-be rioters.

"The government submits that such a sentence would be an appropriate one, which would serve to protect the community, punish the defendant for his criminal conduct, and deter others from committing similar offenses," the prosecution wrote.

Defense attorney Albert Watkins challenged this argument, writing there is little evidence that harsher prison sentences serve as a general deterrent to crime and that the defendant's prison time spent in solitary confinement because of COVID-19 protocols should be a consideration in favor of leniency.

Watkins also wrote that his client experienced a difficult childhood and has "mental health vulnerabilities" that should be considered. He compared Chansley to Forrest Gump, a slow-witted fictional character from the eponymous movie who witnessed and influenced major historical events.

Watkins wrote Chansley's "gait and apparent Forest Gump-like obliviousness to much of the activity and many of the actions of those surrounding him" pointed toward his mental health issues.

"He was not an organizer. He was not a planner. He was not violent. He was not destructive. He was not a thief," the defense argued.

"Defendant respectfully requests that the Court impose a sentence significantly below the range of sentencing recommended under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, recognizing the harshness of the conditions surrounding time served to date, and impose such sentence as permits Mr. Chansley to proceed hence with his pursuit of his mental and physical health prioritized," the defense memo states.

Before the Jan. 6 riot, Chansley attended several Arizona rallies for then-President Donald Trump, as well as protests in Phoenix, dressed in his distinctive costume. He is a longtime promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory and one of many who questioned the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.

During the riot, he yelled into a bullhorn as police officers came into conflict with the mob, posed for photos in the Capitol building, and called then-Vice President Mike Pence a traitor for refusing to reject the Electoral College results submitted to Congress. He wrote a note to Pence saying, "It's only a matter of time, justice is coming."

Chansley was one of more than 650 people who have been charged with federal crimes related to the events of Jan. 6, including more than 100 individuals accused of assaulting police officers.

He pleaded guilty on Sept. 3 to obstructing an official proceeding, a felony charge.

Chansley's sentencing hearing is on Nov. 17.

DOJ says Capitol rioters intended to 'capture and assassinate' elected officials



A Justice Department court filing has revealed a plan that rioters purportedly designed to "capture and assassinate" elected officials during last week's raid on the U.S. Capitol.

Federal prosecutors in the filing asked an Arizona judge to detain Jacob Chansley, an Arizona man who was pictured wearing face and body makeup and buffalo horns while standing at Vice President Mike Pence's desk in the Senate.

Chansley is set to appear in a federal court on Friday.

What are the details?

The FBI, according to the DOJ, investigated Chansley, who reportedly left a note on the vice president's desk staying that "it's only a matter of time, justice is coming."

A portion of the federal prosecutors' Thursday filing states, "Strong evidence, including Chansley's own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States government."

According to a Friday report from Reuters, prosecutors said the charges against Chansley "involve active participation in an insurrection attempting to violently overthrow the United States government and that Chansley is a serious flight risk.

"Chansley has spoken openly about his belief that he is an alien, a higher being, and he is here on Earth to ascend to another reality," prosecutors added in the filing.

He also reportedly phoned the FBI after the riots and told them that he was "glad he sat in the vice president's chair because Vice President Pence is a child-trafficking traitor."

Seeking a pardon

A lawyer for Chansley is reportedly seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump for his client's role in the U.S. Capitol raid.

Chansley has allegedly stated that he "accepted the president's invitation" to march on the U.S. Capitol "with good intentions."

Chansley's attorney, Albert Watkins, issued a statement Thursday on his client, saying that he should be pardoned.

"My client had heard the oft-repeated words of President Trump," Watkins said about the incident. "The words and invitation of a president are supposed to mean something. Given the peaceful and compliant fashion in which Mr. Chansley comported himself, it would be appropriate and honorable for the president to pardon Mr. Chansley and other like-minded, peaceful individuals who accepted the president's invitation with honorable intentions."

Watkins concluded, "Mr. Chansley is an American; he served honorably in the US military. He has zero criminal history. He is a lover of nature, routinely practices meditation, is an active practicer of yoga, and eats only organic food. He took seriously the countless messages of President Trump. He believed in President Trump. Like tens of millions of other Americans, Chansley felt — for the first time in his life — as though his voice was being heard."