US prosecutors said there was “strong evidence” that the rioters who swarmed the Capitol last week targeted government officials for capture and assassination.
The detail came in a court filing against one of the defendants arrested in the aftermath of the attack, Jacob Anthony Chansley, the so-called Qanon Shaman who was pictured wearing a furry horned hat and face paint during the assault.
“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,” prosecutors said in the filing in Arizona federal court.
“Chansley left a note on the Senate Chamber dais, where vice president Mike Pence had been presiding over the session just minutes before, warning ‘it’s only a matter of time, justice is coming,’” the filing said.
Prosecutors said that while Mr Chansley said the note was not meant as a threat,…