Jacob Anthony Chansley, aka "QAnon Shaman" (center), during the US Capitol riot on January 06, 2021. Photo: AFP

Photographs of a bare-chested Donald Trump supporter carrying a bullhorn and a spear adorned with the American flag have become one of the iconic images of the US Capitol riot on January 6. Jacob Chansley, better known as the "QAnon Shaman" who is regarded as the "flag bearer" of the riot, was sentenced to 41 months in prison on Wednesday - one of the longest Capitol riot sentences so far.

By punishing the man heavily, the US is trying to defend order and completely negate the Capitol riot, an incident to support another political party. However, the result may not turn out as they expected: Due to the chaos and division in US politics, such a heavy punishment may instead provoke stronger opposition from the Republican Party. For the US, more troublesome affairs are yet to come.

But what did the "QAnon shaman" do, exactly? He said he is not a "dangerous criminal" during the Wednesday hearing, and Judge Royce Lamberth also said he "didn't slug anybody." According to reports, his dramatic acts include "goading the crowd" from his megaphone, snapping selfies and leading people in an "incantation" over his bullhorn.

He did not make major destructive acts. But Washington obviously believes that he has made the country lose face. "He is much too famous in the US and even around the world. Punishing him heavily is to clearly define that the Capitol riot is illegal," Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

Despite the Biden administration's resolve to maintain order, the divided Democratic and Republican parties and the messed-up political situation may lead the incident into a more chaotic direction.

With such chaos, the Capitol riot is almost inevitable: The fierce confrontation between the two parties has seriously weakened the US' ability to self-correct. Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been charged with two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, and another participant in the riot even escaped to Belarus to seek asylum.

"Such punishment is not a response produced under an effective governance system. Just the opposite, it will only bring more division and confrontation. The Capitol riot shows that there is a fundamental problem in the US' political apparatus," Li said.

US politicians clamored that the national security law for Hong Kong "suppressed" people's freedom. Then, according to US logic, is Washington also suppressing these "fighters"? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose belongings were stolen during the Capitol riot, once called the Hong Kong riots a "beautiful sight to behold." However, she formed a select committee in June to investigate the riot. Such double standards are a typical trick of the US.

"If the United States saw what the United States is doing in the United States, the United States would invade the United States to liberate the United States from the tyranny of the United States," Mohamad Safa, the Lebanese permanent representative to the UN, said about the Capitol riot. After the Biden administration's charges against the "QAnon Shaman" and others, Washington is completely unqualified to smear the national security law for Hong Kong.

"The US' condescending accusations against Hong Kong further reflect the hypocrisy of US so-called democratic practices. It will be even more untenable for the US to hold the banner of democracy and freedom in international society," Li said.

"Our country has had enough and we will not take it anymore," declared Trump on January 6. But what the country has really "had enough" of is the widening partisan gap, double standards of political elites and their arrogant behavior of blatantly accusing other countries while ignoring domestic problems.