QAnon supporter who thought he was at the White House when he stormed the Capitol is released on home detention

A federal judge agreed on Tuesday to release a QAnon supporter from jail on house detention six months after he stormed the US Capitol, which he mistook for the White House. 

Douglas Jensen, 41, from Iowa, wearing a T-shirt bearing the letter 'Q,' a symbol of the QAnon conspiracy theory, was videotaped confronting hero US Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman in one of the most menacing images of the January 6 insurrection. 

Jensen followed Goodman up two flights of stairs as the officer singlehandedly diverted the mob chanting 'hang Mike Pence' away from the Senate Chamber while the vice president was still inside.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly said deciding whether to free Jensen from jail pending trial was a 'close case,' but he ultimately agreed to release the Des Moines resident on house arrest with electronic location monitoring. The judge also barred him from accessing the internet on any electronic devices.

Doug Jensen, a January 6 Capitol rioter, pictured in a QAnon shirt confronting hero police officer Eugene Goodwin, was ordered released on house arrest  

Goodwin was praised for diverting the mob, led by Jensen, away from the Senate Chamber 

The judge said Jensen’s actions during his confrontation of Goodman were 'deeply concerning and quite serious.' But he noted that Jensen is not accused of toppling any barricades, damaging any property or fighting with anybody at the Capitol.

'That said, he clearly disobeyed Officer Goodman and other officers, and he did position himself near the front of a mob as he ran up the stairs toward Officer Goodman,' the judge said. 'That may be some leadership, but only in the narrowest sense.'

Jensen, 41, from Iowa, faces charges including civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding a law enforcement officer

Kelly noted that cellphone video captured Jensen repeatedly referring to the Capitol building as the White House. 

In one clip, Jensen is seen touching the wall of the Capitol building while saying; 'this is me, touching the f***ing White House.'

In another video, the Iowa man screams: 'storm the White House! That's what we do!'  

The judge said he didn’t believe that Jensen could have coordinated with others or planned an attack in advance 'when he had no basic understanding of where he even was that day.'

Prosecutors said Jensen is a self-proclaimed 'digital soldier' and 'religious' adherent of QAnon, the conspiracy theory that has centered on the baseless belief that former President Donald Trump was secretly waging a campaign against a Satan-worshipping, child sex trafficking cabal of 'deep state' enemies, Hollywood elites and Democratic foes.

Jensen's social media was full of the claims of the theory, which makes a hero of Mike Flynn, the first Trump national security advisor who was fired for lying to Pence, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, then got a pardon from Trump after reversing his guilty plea. 

Jensen's attorney painted him as a victim who was fed various conspiracy theories and 'lies' by 'very clever people'

Jensen traveled to Washington because he was 'all about a revolution' and succeeded in his mission to become the 'poster boy' for the events at the Capitol that day, prosecutors wrote in court papers. They argued that he poses a danger to the public and must remain jailed.

Defense attorney Christopher Davis said his client went to the Capitol to observe what QAnon promoters have prophesized as 'The Storm,' the day when Trump’s enemies would be rounded up and executed.

'He was in front of everyone for the now disclosed silly reason to get Q recognized for "The Storm" that was about to take place,' Davis wrote in a court filing.

Jensen’s lawyer said his client 'became a victim of numerous conspiracy theories that were being fed to him over the internet by a number of very clever people, who were uniquely equipped with slight, if any, moral or social consciousness.

'Six months later, languishing in a DC Jail cell, locked down most of the time, he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies,' Davis wrote.

Jensen faces charges including civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding a law enforcement officer.

Davis said he tried to book a plane ticket for Jensen but wasn’t able to, leading him to believe that his client is on a no-fly list.

The lawyer said Jensen's wife was willing to drive him back to Des Moines. 

Few of the more than 500 people charged in the Capitol riot remain locked up while they fight the charges.

An appeals court ruling in March that led to the release of a mother and son charged in the riot set standards for how judges should weigh whether to keep January 6 defendants locked up awaiting trial.

A federal judge said Jensen could not have coordinated the attack because 'he had no basic understanding of where he even was that day.' This screenshot comes from a video where Jensen refers to the US Capitol as 'the f***ing White House'  

The appeals court found that the judge who ordered Eric Munchel and his mother Lisa Eisenhart detained failed to show how they could be a threat to the community, noting that they didn’t assault anyone or destroy anything during the riots.

Judges have since cited that ruling in several decisions releasing defendants.

But the appeals court also said last week that people could still be found to be a danger to the public and kept in jail even if they didn’t commit violence.

That came in an opinion upholding the pretrial detention of an Army reservist whose co-workers told authorities was a known Nazi sympathizer who wore a Hitler mustache. The judge who ordered Timothy Hale-Cusanelli locked up pointed to his violent rhetoric and found him to be a threat to a government informant.