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Man arrested in Capitol riot refuses to eat non-organic jail food

Chansley's mother said unless he eats organic food, he gets ill.
Image: Congress Holds Joint Session To Ratify 2020 Presidential Election
Chansley screams "Freedom" inside the Senate chamber after the Capitol was breached by a mob during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.Win McNamee / Getty Images
/ Source: TODAY

One of the people charged in the riot at the U.S. Capitol last week went viral again Monday after news of his first court appearance hit the web — with the internet latching on to one dietary detail in particular.

Jacob Chansley, 33, also known as Jake Angeli, was one of the people photographed extensively at the riot. He wore a fur hat with horns and painted his face with the colors of the American flag.

NBC News has reported Chansley is QAnon-supporting YouTuber who also was among the pro-Trump protesters who gathered outside the Maricopa County Elections Department in Phoenix on Nov. 5, claiming that the election was stolen.

Monday, Arizona ABC station KNXV reported, he made his first appearance in a Phoenix federal courtroom via telephone, as he’s being held in quarantine.

In a now-viral tweet, reporter Melissa Blasius said his mother “says he hasn’t eaten since Friday because the detention facility won’t feed him all organic food.”

By Monday night, “organic” was trending on Twitter as people reacted to the news.

“Imagine thinking your white privilege extends so far as to trash the Capitol & then demand organic food in prison,” one person replied.

“It’s a jail, Jacob. It isn’t a Whole Foods,” another person replied.

Former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill quote tweeted Blasius as well.

“Ok, this is funny. Organic food demanded by domestic terrorists,” McCaskill replied.

KNXV reported that Chansley’s public defender told the judge he is on “an extremely restrictive diet, perhaps for religious reasons, and had not eaten since he was taken into custody,” and the judge ordered the defender to work with the U.S. Marshal’s Office on the dietary concerns.

David Gonzales, U.S. Marshal for the District of Arizona, told the outlet on Monday night that they will abide by the judge’s order and plan to give Chansley food in line with a shaman's strict organic diet.

NBC affiliate KPNX reported that Chansley's mother, Martha Chansley, said he only eats organic food or he gets ill.

In an interview with KNXV last week, Martha Chansley said he’s one of the “gentlest people I know.”

“It takes a lot of courage to be a patriot and to stand up for what it is you believe and you know to be right, she told the news station. “And not everybody wants to be the person up front, right?”

The Department of Justice said Saturday Chansley is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He's due back in court on Friday afternoon.

"What I was doing was civil disobedience," Chansley told NBC News. "I didn't do anything wrong. ... I walked through an open door, dude."

As of Monday morning, D.C. Metro Police said there have been around 80 people arrested in connection with the riots at the U.S. Capitol Building.

CORRECTION (Jan. 13, 2020 10:15 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this story misspelled Chansley's name in the main photo and misstated the number of individuals arrested in connection with the riots at the Capitol. There have been nearly 737 arrests from May 30 to Jan. 11 in Washington D.C. tied to "unrest," per police, but only about 80 were in connection with the Capitol riots.