Jake Angeli (aka Q Shaman) in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Source: Associated Press

Mama Boys? Insurrectionists and the Moms who Love Them

READ TIME: 4 MIN.

If the hit TLC show "I Love a Mama's Boy" is looking for subjects for their new season, they should look no further than a pair of insurrectionists who invaded the U.S. Capitol building last week, both of whom have received much media attention this week.

First there's the 'Q Shaman,' (aka Jake Angeli or Jake Chansley), "the insurrectionist, who was photographed sporting furs and a horned headdress during the attack, turned himself in after storming the Capitol, completely unafraid. 'Wasn't Jesus arrested?' he asked– while also comparing himself to Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King."

No doubt another person who would compare Angeli to these iconic figures would be his mother, Martha Chansley, who came forward to complain that her son wasn't eating while in custody because he isn't served organic food. ""He gets very sick if he doesn't eat organic food–literally will get physically sick," Newsweek reports.

Ms. Chansley went on to defend her son after his arrest. "My son is a great patriot, a veteran, a person who loves this country," she told Tuscon television staton KVOA.

She expressed being surprised by the attention he received, adding, "I think at the time I don't think he did anything wrong," She also said that he didn't participate in any violent acts and only walked into the building because there was an open door allowing him to do so. "If I'm not mistaken, isn't it the people's house?" Chansley said.

Told that his entry was a Federal offense, she said: "Well, I don't have much to say about that. As far as a U.S. citizen, it should be our right to go into that building." Martha said.

"Jake needs all the support he can get. He's a great patriot and I love him."

Eric Munchel and his mom Lisa at the U.S. Capitol
Source: Twitter

Another insurrectionist known as "Zip-tie guy" is also a likely candidate for "I Love a Mama's Boy." He was later identified as 30-year-old Eric Munchel and was arrested by the FBI earlier this week after a pic of him circulated in the House chambers with a woman identified as his mother in the background, according to a report in Salon.

"And according to the affidavit, federal authorities believe the woman he was photographed with in a hotel lobby and at the riot was his mom, Lisa Eisenhart. A Nashville Public Radio report says that his mom even booked the plane tickets for their flight to D.C."

"This country was founded on revolution," Lisa told the London newspaper The Times. "If they're going to take every legitimate means from us, and we can't even express ourselves on the Internet, we won't even be able to speak freely, what is America for?"

According to the interview, she also said: "I'd rather die as a 57-year-old woman than live under oppression. I'd rather die and would rather fight."

Eisenhart stressed in the interview that they entered the Capitol as "observers," and that her son told her not to touch anything.

Munchel didn't take his mom's advice saying that he picked up the zip-ties, which can be used to restrain someone, after he saw them on the floor, the British tabloid The Sun reports. "My thought process there was I would pick them up and give them to an officer when I see one. . . . I didn't do that because I had put them in my coat, and I honestly forgot about them."

While Eric Munchel was arrested, his mother has yet to be.

Salon adds that "to most Americans, there's nothing wholesome about helping your son achieve an undemocratic coup. On a political level, however, the family element to the riot is not at all surprising. Anecdotally, far-right extremism is either breaking apart or uniting American families these days; many have been birthed into it, radical views upheld and passed down from generation to generation. Moms in politics get attention because they defy our wholesome stereotypes around what "mothering" means."


Read These Next