Internet sleuths ensure that rioters face consequences
As he strolled past gold-framed portraits of past congressional leaders, one rioter who stormed the US Capitol wore a red Trump hat, a commemorative sweatshirt from the president’s inauguration, and a lanyard around his neck.
When a photo of him went viral, it didn’t take internet sleuths long to realise that the lanyard held his work badge – clearly identifying him as an employee of Navistar Direct Marketing, a printing company in Frederick, Maryland. The next day, Navistar swiftly fired him.
He’s not alone among the rioters who wreaked havoc in Congress. While police and the FBI work to identify and arrest members of the mob, online detectives are also crowdsourcing information and publishing it – exposing the rioters to criminal prosecution, but also more immediate action from their bosses.
Since most of the rioters stormed the Capitol maskless, the online detectives have had a unique opportunity to easily identify them. And many made it even easier – they livestreamed their participation and later boasted about their escapades.
Using journalists’ photos and videos, as well as livestreamed videos from the rioters, Twitter users and Instagram accounts, detectives have been working to identify and name those who stormed down the halls of the Capitol, ransacking lawmakers’ offices and occupying the House Chamber.
Some, like the Instagram account @homegrownterrorists, amassed huge followings in a few hours. When posters believe they’ve identified someone, the images are updated with names and details about the person – like their social media handle, hometown or job title.
The FBI has been attempting a similar tactic. Its Washington field office has tweeted dozens of images of rioters, asking the public help identify them.
But even for some who haven’t yet been charged with a crime, the consequences have been swift.
Paul Davis, a Dallas-area lawyer, was fired on Friday from his position as associate general counsel and director of human resources at Goosehead Insurance, after a Twitter user posted his Instagram story, showing Davis livestreaming outside the Capitol and talking about wanting to get inside. Davis said in the video that he had been teargassed.
A Chicago real estate brokerage firm confirmed that it had fired an agent, Libby Andrews, after receiving a ‘‘tremendous amount of outreach’’ regarding her posts on social media about ‘‘ storming the Capitol’’.
Andrews told the Chicago Tribune that she arrived at the Capitol after people had already broken in, and didn’t realise that what they were doing was illegal.
Others have been suspended. A teacher in Allentown, Pennsylvania has been put on temporary leave while the school district completes an investigation into his participation in the melee.
Brad Rukstales, the chief executive of Cogensia, a marketing data company in Chicago, was arrested on Thursday for his involvement in the riots. Cogensia said it had placed Rukstales ‘‘ on leave of absence while we assess further’’. Rukstales told Chicago radio station WBBM that he was ‘‘in the wrong place at the wrong, time and I regret my part in that’’.
A lieutenant sheriff in Bexar County, Texas who has been on leave since October as the department investigates allegations of an inappropriate relationship with an inmate is facing a second investigation, after she posted multiple images of the mob breaking into the Capitol on her Facebook account.
Other videos of rioters boasting about their participation and even identifying themselves are continuing to go viral.
A recording on Facebook Live from Jenny Cudd, a small business owner who in 2019 mounted a failed mayoral campaign in Midland, Texas, went viral on Twitter, amassing nearly 4 million views as of yesterday.
In it, Cudd boasts about breaking into the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. ‘‘We did break down Nancy Pelosi’s office door and somebody stole her gavel, and I took a picture sitting in the chair flipping off the camera, and that was on Fox News,’’ she said.