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brooklynite

(93,628 posts)
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:15 AM Jul 2021

'QAnon Shaman' in plea negotiations after mental health diagnosis -lawyer

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - The participant in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots nicknamed the "QAnon Shaman" is negotiating a possible plea deal with prosecutors, after prison psychologists found he suffers from a variety of mental illnesses, his attorney said.

In an interview, defense lawyer Albert Watkins said that officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons, or BOP, have diagnosed his client Jacob Chansley with transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.

The BOP's findings, which have not yet been made public, suggest Chansley's mental condition deteriorated due to the stress of being held in solitary confinement at a jail in Alexandria, Virginia, Watkins said.

"As he spent more time in solitary confinement ... the decline in his acuity was noticeable, even to an untrained eye," Watkins said in an interview on Thursday.



Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-qanon-shaman-plea-negotiations-after-mental-health-diagnosis-lawyer-2021-07-23/
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'QAnon Shaman' in plea negotiations after mental health diagnosis -lawyer (Original Post) brooklynite Jul 2021 OP
I am trying to care. DURHAM D Jul 2021 #1
I care Johnny2X2X Jul 2021 #38
He should be humanely confined for treatment, then Orrex Jul 2021 #42
Only the most fit dianaredwing Jul 2021 #66
This Deminpenn Jul 2021 #57
This man is a part-time actor. He has said so himself. LogicFirst Jul 2021 #69
Nope. Can't Care Even A Little Bit COL Mustard Jul 2021 #63
Maybe He'll Be Free By The Time Of The Next Insurrection SoCalDavidS Jul 2021 #2
As phony as his costume C_U_L8R Jul 2021 #3
If the man is incompetent to be held responsible for his actions, he should not go to trial Chainfire Jul 2021 #4
Could be because of Covid... that was my assessment. secondwind Jul 2021 #6
Bipolar disorder, though, is a whole other ball game. IL Dem Jul 2021 #8
Very good summary and thanks for the link! (have a daughter that could be bipolar) n/t iluvtennis Jul 2021 #44
The article says for covid protection. tblue37 Jul 2021 #31
Add horrible sense of sartorial taste to the list Prof. Toru Tanaka Jul 2021 #5
His mental stress has been worse since he has been detained........ turbinetree Jul 2021 #7
No shit, Sherlock! Chainfire Jul 2021 #9
I can see how getting caught and charged with his crimes would be hard on his mental state csziggy Jul 2021 #56
I mean, it's thoroughly possible jmowreader Jul 2021 #10
+1 pandr32 Jul 2021 #25
I Suspect Most of Us Here Would Own Up to Having Some Tendency Towards Kindness and Generosity The Roux Comes First Jul 2021 #30
If he is found mentally incompetent he can't be tried ripcord Jul 2021 #51
Trumps defense Traildogbob Jul 2021 #11
I believe it. Heard of him via the Qanon Anonymous Podcast long before 1/6 salin Jul 2021 #12
Oh FFS DemocraticPatriot Jul 2021 #21
Deafie here. What is he yelling about? nt tblue37 Jul 2021 #33
He first started repetively yelling about a sign outside of the mall bathroom BumRushDaShow Jul 2021 #81
Thank you! nt tblue37 Jul 2021 #83
You're welcome! BumRushDaShow Jul 2021 #85
He sounds JUST like a few of the mentally ill people that come from a homeless encampment down chowder66 Jul 2021 #39
Put that treasonous bastard under the jail. kairos12 Jul 2021 #13
He lacks the character to face the criminal charges. I hope he NCjack Jul 2021 #14
The guy who walked into the US Capitol shirtless in buckskin pants and a bizarre hat greenjar_01 Jul 2021 #15
As if that ridiculous costume wasn't a pretty big clue. Aristus Jul 2021 #16
Yeah, he was perfectly normal before that Walleye Jul 2021 #17
Mr. Chansley is in desparate need of mental health treatment Devil Child Jul 2021 #18
NGRI (if it's that) is not a sentence you want. It never ends. underpants Jul 2021 #19
He is an actor. dalton99a Jul 2021 #20
Transient? Corgigal Jul 2021 #22
BS!!! llashram Jul 2021 #23
As much as I hate to contradict a wig picker who has actually seen the guy Warpy Jul 2021 #24
I find your statements objective, accurate and helpful. Shoeless Louis Jul 2021 #41
he is just trying to cut a deal.... getagrip_already Jul 2021 #26
Souunds good to me ,,,,,, Cryptoad Jul 2021 #27
I'm betting those supposed mental problems... Paladin Jul 2021 #28
the fox news lobotomy defense. nt yaesu Jul 2021 #29
If he was well enough to plan and travel there and then participate in the attempted insurrection he cstanleytech Jul 2021 #32
This message was self-deleted by its author ExTex Jul 2021 #82
A fake shaman who can feign mental illness bucolic_frolic Jul 2021 #34
That's a lot of issues and after his actions he seems to be a danger to the public so I ZonkerHarris Jul 2021 #35
BS. He's milking his horns for an insanity plea. Vinca Jul 2021 #36
I suspect the same thing..... IcyPeas Jul 2021 #50
at the very least NJCher Jul 2021 #68
that's one hell of a diagnosis stillcool Jul 2021 #37
'transient schizophrenia' is a form that the symptoms come and go in no discernable pattern ... marble falls Jul 2021 #48
ah...that's it... stillcool Jul 2021 #62
Who gives a shit is he's nuts. 'Criminally Insane' is a diagnosis. Scalded Nun Jul 2021 #40
He should take a plea deal, but let's not kid ourselves, the "mental condition" ship sailed a long ck4829 Jul 2021 #43
This is how I feel about Q Water Buffalo ChubbyStar Jul 2021 #58
Gee. What is it Republicans say about jail conditions for the mentally ill? Kid Berwyn Jul 2021 #45
Insurrections have Consequences! nt Fritz Walter Jul 2021 #46
"(D)eteriorated" as opposed to what base line??? He might not find a Federal mental lockup ... marble falls Jul 2021 #47
healthy people break in solitary confinement. barbtries Jul 2021 #49
yep NJCher Jul 2021 #70
How about this for a negotiation: clementine613 Jul 2021 #52
I armchair diagnose him as a faker and a liar, and a clever grifter. Nt Baked Potato Jul 2021 #53
If he has the mental illnesses the Bureau of Prisons doctors says he does ripcord Jul 2021 #54
Funny how Repugs always had a stroke whenever the 'insanity defense' issue came up peppertree Jul 2021 #55
He followed 45 rallies all over the country LittleGirl Jul 2021 #59
not really NJCher Jul 2021 #73
Fuck the Snowflake and feed him peanuts. Scottie Mom Jul 2021 #60
"transient schizophrenia" LudwigPastorius Jul 2021 #61
fine. declare him incompetent, put him under house arrest or commit him Javaman Jul 2021 #64
Of all the insurrectionists, he seems the most likely to be able to make this plea stick. Long ago... Hekate Jul 2021 #65
Here's hoping young Mr. Chansley will see the light - and how he was used (like the rest of them) peppertree Jul 2021 #75
This message was self-deleted by its author ExTex Jul 2021 #84
Then it's going to be tough to release him into anyone's custody Hekate Jul 2021 #86
This doesn't surprise me. Sucha NastyWoman Jul 2021 #67
I saw that, too NJCher Jul 2021 #74
I refuse to cut this little weasel any slack. Paladin Jul 2021 #77
I certainly don't have any love or sympathy for any of the rest of them. Sucha NastyWoman Jul 2021 #78
That seething hatred you mention really stood out & made me think of Berserkergang... Hekate Jul 2021 #89
Are prison psychologists qualified? They probably have a conflict of interest too. LiberalFighter Jul 2021 #71
Wouldn't most people deteriotate while in solitary? LiberalFighter Jul 2021 #72
see Warpy's post upthread NJCher Jul 2021 #76
We are not them orangecrush Jul 2021 #79
I hate the insurrectionists as much as anyone here The Mouth Jul 2021 #80
He needs confinement with mental care. TNNurse Jul 2021 #87
A "variety of mental illnesses"??? He's a effing REPUBLICAN! Grins Jul 2021 #88
Anyone who believed the Orange Menace Woodwizard Jul 2021 #90
Okay, fine. Cinnamonspice Jul 2021 #91
wish they would bring back chain - gang's for these clown's !! monkeyman1 Jul 2021 #92
they can always use a good witch doctor at neighborhood clinics!! monkeyman1 Jul 2021 #93
Yeah, let's just let all the traitors go. StarryNite Jul 2021 #94

Johnny2X2X

(18,634 posts)
38. I care
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 01:39 PM
Jul 2021

This guy is mentally ill and he was sent to solitary confinement, no one deserves that.

And he was part of a group that tried to overthrow our Democracy, but he wasn't assaulting people or destroying things that I saw, he was more a symbol, this guy needs help.

I hope one aspect of good that comes out of this is that some people like him see how cruel and inhumane our prison system is. Mentally ill people placed into solitary confinement is absolutely a crime, I don't care what he did.

Deminpenn

(15,240 posts)
57. This
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 03:24 PM
Jul 2021

Solitary confinement is cruel and inhumane. No one should have to endure it for more than a day or two.

LogicFirst

(571 posts)
69. This man is a part-time actor. He has said so himself.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 04:43 PM
Jul 2021

How much of his "mental" state is just acting? We won't know until after the plea deal is struck.

COL Mustard

(5,750 posts)
63. Nope. Can't Care Even A Little Bit
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 04:07 PM
Jul 2021

Lock that douchebag up for a long time. (Apologies to actual douchebags, which provide a service.)

SoCalDavidS

(9,998 posts)
2. Maybe He'll Be Free By The Time Of The Next Insurrection
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:17 AM
Jul 2021

I await whatever "accountability" is forthcoming.

C_U_L8R

(44,872 posts)
3. As phony as his costume
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:26 AM
Jul 2021

He knew exactly why he was there and what he was doing. And he acted on a plan. Sane enough to be held accountable.

Chainfire

(17,265 posts)
4. If the man is incompetent to be held responsible for his actions, he should not go to trial
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:27 AM
Jul 2021

But he should be put in a place where he can not do further damage to the rest of us. You just can't put violently unstable people back into the community and tell them to sin no more.

I wonder why he has been in solitary confinement? Does anyone know?

If depression was a legal excuse for committing crimes, none of your fortunes or women would be safe from me.

IL Dem

(807 posts)
8. Bipolar disorder, though, is a whole other ball game.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:39 AM
Jul 2021

Bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.

There are three types of bipolar disorder. All three types involve clear changes in mood, energy, and activity levels. These moods range from periods of extremely “up,” elated, irritable, or energized behavior (known as manic episodes) to very “down,” sad, indifferent, or hopeless periods (known as depressive episodes). Less severe manic periods are known as hypomanic episodes.

Bipolar I Disorder— defined by manic episodes that last at least 7 days, or by manic symptoms that are so severe that the person needs immediate hospital care. Usually, depressive episodes occur as well, typically lasting at least 2 weeks. Episodes of depression with mixed features (having depressive symptoms and manic symptoms at the same time) are also possible.
Bipolar II Disorder— defined by a pattern of depressive episodes and hypomanic episodes, but not the full-blown manic episodes that are typical of Bipolar I Disorder.
Cyclothymic Disorder (also called Cyclothymia)— defined by periods of hypomanic symptoms as well as periods of depressive symptoms lasting for at least 2 years (1 year in children and adolescents). However, the symptoms do not meet the diagnostic requirements for a hypomanic episode and a depressive episode.

more at https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/

I had a friend who was bipolar. Her manic episodes were exhausting for everyone around her and dangerous for her as well. Her depressive stages were frighteing.

Prof. Toru Tanaka

(1,901 posts)
5. Add horrible sense of sartorial taste to the list
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:28 AM
Jul 2021

That outfit he wore on 1/6 would not have pleased Mr. Blackwell.

Another whiny tough-guy wannabe having difficulties adapting to prison life. All the more reason Chansley should have considered that storming the Capitol and committing crimes on federal property was a horribly bad idea back on Jan. 6th.

turbinetree

(24,606 posts)
7. His mental stress has been worse since he has been detained........
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:36 AM
Jul 2021

fuck that shit he knew exactly what he was doing...

Chainfire

(17,265 posts)
9. No shit, Sherlock!
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:41 AM
Jul 2021

Jail is not widely accepted as a place to raise one's spirits. That is one reason I have tried my best to avoid it.

csziggy

(34,115 posts)
56. I can see how getting caught and charged with his crimes would be hard on his mental state
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 03:22 PM
Jul 2021

But he's in his early thirties - has he ever been treated for his mental illness? Was he diagnosed at any time before this? If he was, was he prescribed a course of treatment - did he follow it or did he refuse medication and/or counseling?

If he had been previously diagnosed and preferred to continue in his confused metal state rather than get help, he should only be allowed release under close supervision.

jmowreader

(50,419 posts)
10. I mean, it's thoroughly possible
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:45 AM
Jul 2021

Let’s be real. Before 1/6 he was able to do all the things he likes, like eating organic food, dressing up as a Viking and wearing makeup that looks even worse than Trump’s. Now he’s in the hoosegow and can’t do any of those things.

But I’m a kind and generous person. I’d be perfectly willing to move him to a mental hospital for treatment until he’s considered able to stand trial.

The Roux Comes First

(1,271 posts)
30. I Suspect Most of Us Here Would Own Up to Having Some Tendency Towards Kindness and Generosity
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:51 PM
Jul 2021

At least if our anonymity were preserved and self-esteem unthreatened!

But as I see it, a primary problem here is that the Party of Yam (and plenty of others), in their zeal for tax breaks has been so assiduously lopping off funding for mental health care of almost any sort that this King Cnut-wannabe probably has no hope of getting the care and sequestration that he so obviously needs. As Jackson Browne has sung, "the road is full of homeless souls," and more than a few likely fall squarely in this category of diagnosable but with no access to proper care.

ripcord

(5,037 posts)
51. If he is found mentally incompetent he can't be tried
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:48 PM
Jul 2021

Even if there is clear proof of guilt he was still incompetent when he committed the crime.

Traildogbob

(8,476 posts)
11. Trumps defense
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:52 AM
Jul 2021

For all forthcoming indictments. Can’t be prosecuted. Why was Manson in prison until dead? He only had a boo boo on the brain.

salin

(48,954 posts)
12. I believe it. Heard of him via the Qanon Anonymous Podcast long before 1/6
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:54 AM
Jul 2021

One of the podcast guys uploaded these videos after the insurrection. I couldn't find the earlier time they refered to these videos (for the time stamp info. of when it was) which included at least two of the videos. They are from Julien Feld's twitter feed - so I don't know if you can view them without twitter (sorry I tried the normal cut and paste but it only copied his twitter name?!).


?s=20
(thread of 4 tweets, but have to click on this one to get to the thread)

BumRushDaShow

(126,623 posts)
81. He first started repetively yelling about a sign outside of the mall bathroom
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 05:40 PM
Jul 2021

supposedly being a "pedophile symbol" and asking (yelling) why was it outside of a bathroom in Arizona. I tried to do a search on what he kept calling it - a "spiral triangle" and he may be referencing the unisex-type bathroom signs (e.g., like that California and probably other places use) -



Then the rest of the ranting and yelling was basically his demanding that people "research Q-Anon".

One wonders where the security guards were. If that had been a POC yelling in a mall like that, his ass would have been toast and he'd be face down in the linoleum.

chowder66

(8,999 posts)
39. He sounds JUST like a few of the mentally ill people that come from a homeless encampment down
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 01:46 PM
Jul 2021

the street (a little over 500 feet per Citizen) where I live in Hollywood. There are a couple of guys and a woman who do this at all hours of the night through the neighborhoods.

It sounds exactly the same. A strange gravel-y shouting and it goes on for ever. Sometimes you can make out sentences - when they pass directly by your window.

This alone has me agreeing with the experts that he's mentally ill. As they say it's transient so he may be somewhat lucid/functional at times.

NCjack

(10,279 posts)
14. He lacks the character to face the criminal charges. I hope he
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 11:57 AM
Jul 2021

gets 30 years in a federal prison. They have mental illness treatment facilities for people like him.

 

greenjar_01

(6,477 posts)
15. The guy who walked into the US Capitol shirtless in buckskin pants and a bizarre hat
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:00 PM
Jul 2021

Who believes that a cabal of blood-sucking sex predators runs the world from secret tunnels and that a former real estate con man from New York City was going to save us from them is...mentally ill?

Wow. Glad the psychiatrists are on top of that.

Aristus

(65,985 posts)
16. As if that ridiculous costume wasn't a pretty big clue.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:01 PM
Jul 2021

That, and every in every picture of him, he looks like he's braying like a donkey. Keep him behind bars for being a seditious asshole, but allow him weekly mental health care meetings.

 

Devil Child

(2,728 posts)
18. Mr. Chansley is in desparate need of mental health treatment
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:05 PM
Jul 2021

Not surprised that someone displaying possible schizophrenia symptoms was drawn into the whole Qanon weirdness.

underpants

(182,064 posts)
19. NGRI (if it's that) is not a sentence you want. It never ends.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:10 PM
Jul 2021

Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity

I know of this from working with social workers who had NGRI clients. You are forever under court restrictions. They could be super tight in terms of being able to leave a state or even a county. Your behavior can get you right back in court. You have to disclose it on all job and housing applications. You continually have a case manager to whom you report. It’s never over either.

Corgigal

(9,291 posts)
22. Transient?
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:14 PM
Jul 2021

Transient schizophrenia? My brother had schizophrenia, it’s a 24 hour , 365 days a year mental illness.

I know defense attorneys are throwing it all at a wall, but I don’t think this is thing.

Warpy

(110,746 posts)
24. As much as I hate to contradict a wig picker who has actually seen the guy
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:27 PM
Jul 2021

I'd like to point out there is a consistent decline in faculties among everyone held in solitary confinement, which is why it's cruel and unusual punishment. If you're not crazy when you go in, you will be when you get out.

I already got the guy's bipolar disease. I'll take their word for the depression and anxiety, those are parts of the package. "Transient schizophrenia" is something they have to expect with someone kept in solitary. Without stimulation, the brain manufactures its own environment.

If this guy agrees to get stabilized on medication, he's going to realize what an arse he's made of himself. I don't envy him that.

Shoeless Louis

(73 posts)
41. I find your statements objective, accurate and helpful.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:00 PM
Jul 2021

Personally,I am not impressed with the man’s behavior but you covered the salient points.

Mental health issues have always carried the stigma that the sufferer is somehow responsible for their condition. While in some cases they may be responsible for some of the condition, in never helps to make it harder on them.

That being said, I would make damn sure he was safe before returning him to society.

Thanks Warpy!

getagrip_already

(14,082 posts)
26. he is just trying to cut a deal....
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:33 PM
Jul 2021

His lawyers are using whatever leverage they can wield. But in the end, nothing in that diatribe of conditions means he isn't fit to stand trial.

But in reality, the feds are eager to cut deals to clear the dockets. They are just deals the accused won't like - though will be less time ultimately than being convicted on the most serious charges.

Paladin

(28,173 posts)
28. I'm betting those supposed mental problems...
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 12:46 PM
Jul 2021

...won't prevent this asshole from obtaining a big-money book deal and speaking tour, once he's out of jail. Maybe his own line of organic foods. Or a fashion collection, stolen from Native Americans. Fox "News" might give him a show, because God knows, mental illness has never been a negative factor in that shop.

Face it: "Shaman" Jacob Chansley stepped in some lucky shit on January 6.

cstanleytech

(26,027 posts)
32. If he was well enough to plan and travel there and then participate in the attempted insurrection he
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 01:06 PM
Jul 2021

is probably well enough to face the consequences.

Response to cstanleytech (Reply #32)

bucolic_frolic

(42,478 posts)
34. A fake shaman who can feign mental illness
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 01:16 PM
Jul 2021

Who would have guessed? The psychologists are being played. Get some outside evaluations by experts.

ZonkerHarris

(24,123 posts)
35. That's a lot of issues and after his actions he seems to be a danger to the public so I
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 01:18 PM
Jul 2021

think he should be placed in a mental health facility to care for him.
He should not be released to endanger the public again.

IcyPeas

(21,682 posts)
50. I suspect the same thing.....
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:44 PM
Jul 2021

those videos in the mall where he is screaming nonsense are dated Feb. 11. So yeah, he is "acting" nuts while filming himself to prove how crazy he is.

If I am wrong and he really does have a mental illness I am sorry, I'm just a skeptical that any of the insurrectionists were mentally ill.

NJCher

(35,342 posts)
68. at the very least
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 04:41 PM
Jul 2021

they (meaning QAnon and insurrectionists) are very lonely and the loneliness affected/s their mental health. This column by Michelle Goldberg of the NY Times tells about how the loneliness and Covid played into the insurrection.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/opinion/trump-covid-extremism-loneliness.html

Michelle has written several other pieces on why they idolize trump and the appeal of QAnon. They are linked at the bottom of her piece.

I hesitate to post this because one of the sources for her opinion piece is the American Enterprise Insitute, (A.E.I.) a source I never used to let students doing research papers use. I consider it a r-w propaganda house. However, you view it, the very least we can say about this source is that it's interesting that the traditional rw has been studying the psychology of their base for years now. (Lynne Cheney sits on their board.)

Also I hesitate to quote it because of the paywall. However, here are four paragraphs that some of you may find very interesting.

Also, not all her sources are AEI. She quotes others.

snip

Polling data from A.E.I.’s Survey Center on American Life found that 17 percent of Americans said they had not a single person in their “core social network.” These “socially disconnected voters were far more likely to view Trump positively and support his re-election than those with more robust personal networks,” wrote Cox.

It’s not just Trumpism that feeds on isolation. Consider QAnon, which has morphed from an internet message board hoax into a quasi-religion. In his book “The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything,” the journalist Mike Rothschild shows how central a sense of digital community is to QAnon’s appeal. “It’s one of the reasons why baby boomers have fallen in with Q to such a surprising degree — many are empty nesters, on their own, or retired,” he writes.

It’s also likely a reason that QAnon started expanding in tandem with Covid lockdowns, finding new life among Instagram influencers, yoga practitioners and suburban moms. Suddenly people all over America had their social lives obliterated, and many mothers found themselves trapped in domestic isolation beyond anything imagined by Betty Friedan. Stuck at home, they had more time to get sucked into internet rabbit holes. QAnon, which came to merge with Covid-trutherism, gave them an explanation for their misery and villains to blame.

A cruel paradox of Covid is that the social distancing required to control it nurtured pathologies that are now prolonging it. Isolated, atomized people turned to movements that turned them against vaccines. Here, too, Arendt was prescient. She described people shaken loose from any definite place in the world as being at once deeply selfish and indifferent to their own well-being: “Self-centeredness, therefore, went hand in hand with a decisive weakening of the instinct for self-preservation.”


snip

A conundrum for me about the TFG voters and QAnon is where the hell did all these people come from? This column explains to me that they were not all nuts to start with (a little shaky, most likely). There is a convergence of events and psyche that comes together here.

stillcool

(32,626 posts)
37. that's one hell of a diagnosis
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 01:36 PM
Jul 2021

the depression and anxiety are part of the bipolar, but 'transient schizophrenia' is a new one for me. I would love to know how many inmates have mental disorders, and how likely their mental state is to deteriorate once locked up.

marble falls

(56,029 posts)
48. 'transient schizophrenia' is a form that the symptoms come and go in no discernable pattern ...
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:39 PM
Jul 2021

... common enough. I believe in the shaman's case, it disappears in his cell and manifests itself in front of a shrink, judge or jury.

Scalded Nun

(1,227 posts)
40. Who gives a shit is he's nuts. 'Criminally Insane' is a diagnosis.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 01:58 PM
Jul 2021

If his sickness has led to an actual attempt to overthrow the lawful government, then he needs to be put away for the protection of the public. Fuck these people. They never want consequences for their fucked-up activities and actions.

ck4829

(34,905 posts)
43. He should take a plea deal, but let's not kid ourselves, the "mental condition" ship sailed a long
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:12 PM
Jul 2021

time ago.

The whole "Q sent me" is a testament to his mental health long before the insurrection.

Kid Berwyn

(14,522 posts)
45. Gee. What is it Republicans say about jail conditions for the mentally ill?
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:19 PM
Jul 2021

Oh, yeah. “Tough shit. Fuck him!”

marble falls

(56,029 posts)
47. "(D)eteriorated" as opposed to what base line??? He might not find a Federal mental lockup ...
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:35 PM
Jul 2021

... any fun, either.

barbtries

(28,689 posts)
49. healthy people break in solitary confinement.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:40 PM
Jul 2021

sigh.

the hashtag i tried so hard to get trending during the previous regime was "multiple pathologies."

i'd guess that all trumpsters, militia types, end times believers, etc, could be diagnosed with some kind of mental illness. especially since they take their cues from a severely damaged person.

clementine613

(561 posts)
52. How about this for a negotiation:
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 02:50 PM
Jul 2021

Life in prison in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty.

ripcord

(5,037 posts)
54. If he has the mental illnesses the Bureau of Prisons doctors says he does
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 03:01 PM
Jul 2021

He will stay in a mental institution until he is cured and a psychiatrist says he isn't a danger to himself or others then he will be released much like John Hinckley. The process for dealing with mental health is the same regardless of the crime, we liberals fought for that btw.

peppertree

(21,460 posts)
55. Funny how Repugs always had a stroke whenever the 'insanity defense' issue came up
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 03:06 PM
Jul 2021

But when a drugged-out vandal claims it, it's all peachy - if they happen to sympathize with him.

NJCher

(35,342 posts)
73. not really
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 04:51 PM
Jul 2021

there's a reason these people followed trump all over the country. They are very lonely and before you laugh at that as a reason, please read up on it a little. I wrote about this upthread.

The thing about loneliness is that it's very difficult to solve that problem quickly, however, QAnon did solve that problem. They solved it artificially and quickly by sucking their followers into thinking they were doing something good. It gave them a cause, a reason to live.

LudwigPastorius

(8,899 posts)
61. "transient schizophrenia"
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 03:54 PM
Jul 2021

Is that the kind that of disorder that only appears when you're looking for a lenient sentence?

Javaman

(62,394 posts)
64. fine. declare him incompetent, put him under house arrest or commit him
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 04:27 PM
Jul 2021

and have him under weekly checkups for the rest of his miserable life.

and label him a threat to the community depriving him of any guns or weapons.

his life will be living hell from that point forward.

he wants to go this route, then so be it to the fullest penalty.

fuck him.

Hekate

(89,977 posts)
65. Of all the insurrectionists, he seems the most likely to be able to make this plea stick. Long ago...
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 04:27 PM
Jul 2021

Last edited Fri Jul 23, 2021, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Once upon a time, in cultures very different from the one we find ourselves in today, there was a place for people who talked with the spirits, and they trained up the few like themselves and taught their apprentices how to channel the wild energies. Other people came to them for what they knew or could discover about the future or the will of the spirits.

There is one school of thought — which I find intriguing — that today many of these very-long-ago people would be diagnosed much as the “Shaman” has been.

*******
Times changed. The spirits became demons from Hell, and people like the “Shaman” got burned at the stake.
Times changed again. People like the “Shaman” were locked away for the good of society and their own safety.
Times changed again. Scientists discovered they could close the channels to the wild spirits with medication.
Times changed. Governor Ronald Reagan closed the mental institutions as no longer needed, thanks to the new medications. (The ACLU helped, by the way. Free will, and all that.) People were cast out to “freely” decide whether they would take their medications (if they could access them) or sleep under a bridge, and their families were left to try to care for them.

*********
I suspect he will be released to the custody of the same mother who has been trying to take care of him all along. If he takes his medications, he will calm down and his mother’s life will be easier. On the other hand, if he does take all his meds, his life will assuredly be lonely without the wild spirits and will lack purpose.

peppertree

(21,460 posts)
75. Here's hoping young Mr. Chansley will see the light - and how he was used (like the rest of them)
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 04:54 PM
Jul 2021

He strikes me as the type who might - but we'll see.

Response to Hekate (Reply #65)

Sucha NastyWoman

(2,721 posts)
67. This doesn't surprise me.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 04:29 PM
Jul 2021

I always thought this guy had a sort of naievity that indicated some mental health issues. He doesn’t seethe with hatred the way most of them do. I believe, in a childlike manner, he just saw the whole thing as an adventure, a happening. He used to do something similar at shopping mall food courts.

Paladin

(28,173 posts)
77. I refuse to cut this little weasel any slack.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 05:05 PM
Jul 2021

No one individual has become more emblematic of the January 6 coup attempt. He and his horns and his tattoos weren't howling at the Capitol ceilings that day because of some quirky-but-lovable personality traits. He is entitled to exactly zero slack at this point.

This tendency of Democrats to love our enemies to death is why we keep getting our asses handed to us.

Hekate

(89,977 posts)
89. That seething hatred you mention really stood out & made me think of Berserkergang...
Sat Jul 24, 2021, 12:13 AM
Jul 2021

… among those assholes. I mean who the everloving holy fck gouges a man’e eyes out with his thumbs? Guys like that should be shown no leniency whatsoever.



The Mouth

(3,118 posts)
80. I hate the insurrectionists as much as anyone here
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 05:26 PM
Jul 2021

hell, I think they should be rotting away in gibbets

But it doesn't take a genius to see this guy is suffering from something other than Fox "News" exposure.

TNNurse

(6,905 posts)
87. He needs confinement with mental care.
Fri Jul 23, 2021, 08:29 PM
Jul 2021

He should not be out in public. He requires intensive involuntary security.

Maybe forever.

Cinnamonspice

(163 posts)
91. Okay, fine.
Sat Jul 24, 2021, 03:50 PM
Jul 2021

Get this guy the mental help he needs and help him get a job when he gets out of wherever he's going. One of the issues is that he was unemployed for a year. That couldn't have helped his mentally.

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