They were seconds, but the scene became a symbol of the violent insurrection in the Capitol of supporters of US President Donald Trump. A man disguised as a bison, wearing a horned cap and shirtless, momentarily presided over the US Senate, fist raised, amid the chaos.
This bizarre sequence was starred by Jake Angeli, a member of the Qanon conspiracy theory movement who calls himself “Yellowstone Wolf” on his YouTube channel, in which he argues that there is an alleged network of child pornography and child sex trafficking directed by the Democrats, among other ideas.
His presence in the Capitol went viral on social networks and drew the attention of thousands of people, who wondered where this character came from, who was interviewed in November.
The day a ‘bison’ presided over the US Senate
The image took so much force that several national and international media referred to Angeli as one of the leaders of the occupation of the US Congress.
Its beginnings, in Arizona
Born in Phoenix (Arizona, USA) Angeli, 27, spoke to the press in the days after the US presidential elections on November 3, in front of the Maricopa County voting and counting center, in that state.
“Yellowstone Wolf” described himself as a “chosen one” sent by Qanon, a group formed on internet forums and which has been labeled by the FBI as a potential threat of domestic terrorism.
Far from talking about violence and with a smile from ear to ear, Angeli explained that her duty is to “inform” the community of the different scandals that the Democratic Party supposedly hides, such as human trafficking, interference in the US Government, or electoral fraud against Trump.
He would eat with Gandhi or Jesus
Although he had been seen in other rallies in favor of the Republican president, the days of protest in front of the vote counting center in Maricopa were his first major public appearance, in which he captured the attention of the country’s mainstream media.
In that context, he argued that his intention was “to defend Trump’s votes in Arizona” through “civil disobedience”, as other great historical leaders did.
“We are facing the global narrative that Biden won through civil disobedience, as Gandhi, Jesus, or Martin Luther King did,” he said, with his face painted with the US flag.
Rhetoric that works
His live message caught on with Trump supporters present at those protests in Arizona, in part, due to his high rhetorical skills and a harsh but unique voice.
Thus, he became one of the keynote speakers at every Phoenix event that week, whether it was in front of that polling place, City Hall, or the state Capitol.
Those repeated performances led him to be one of the protagonists of Trump’s “defense of the votes”, at the level of ultraconservative radio host Alex Jones.
In less than two months, Angeli went from the gardens of the Arizona Capitol to the well-known Washington DC Capitol esplanade, where she also gave several speeches before the insurrection, according to various social media profiles.
After entering the federal building and reaching the Senate with his companions, “Yellowstone Wolf” momentarily presided over the Upper House, starring in an image that will go down in history.
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