Capitol riot suspect arrested in shirt saying "I Was There"

[Mindysan33]

@VeronicaConnor

The real problem is that nobody was arrested on site because there were no personnel on hand when it happened

There were. There just weren’t enough of them (thanks Trump) and the ones that were trying to do something got beaten, in several cases to death.

[deltaecho]

Unfortunately, the legal system is going to work for most of these gentlepeople. These were, most of them, first-time offenders and will not serve much, if any, jail time for simple trespass.

The only real price they pay will be in legal costs and losing workhours/jobs because of negative publicity and trial attendance. And for some of them, the lasting notoriety/webclicks they get may even garner them a second career.

[gracchus]

@deltaecho

Unfortunately, the legal system is going to work for most of these gentlepeople.

I understand that. The legal system doesn’t make Popper’s Paradox style exceptions for those who actively seek to destroy the legal system, and it’s already infused with right-wing bigotry to the extent that it will let these white terrorists off easy in comparison with, say, BLM protestors.

This situation is one of the reasons I see either another fascist regime or – more likely – a Syrian-style civil war with a fascist faction as very real possibilities in the U.S. in the coming decades. These people are going to take their slaps on the wrist, play it up as martyrdom in public, laugh in their sleeves in private, and then continue trying to overthrow liberal democracy.

[beerocker]

White supremacy is “I can only maintain my position in society by pushing down others”

[Hanglyman]

Wish we could release all the nonviolent drug offenders and lock up all the insurrectionists in their place. I’d feel much safer with them behind bars, preferably forever.

[Carbonman]

@cannibalpeas

I read yesterday that after the insurrection he posted that he had brought rope with him. They found multiple ropes when he was arrested.

He’s a shibari aficionado, perhaps? Nah, he’s too stupid for that.

[Melizmatic]

[JohnEightThirty]

@VeronicaConnor

it turns out not that many people are actually identifiable in all those hundreds of videos.

My guess is that the FBI has a big spreadsheet with a line for each of the people in the list they got from the cell phone tower, and a column for the cover story of how they can admit to having caught each (the “parallel construction”).

I feel like a conspiracy theorist for thinking and talking this way. But the FBI cannot have forgotten about all the times they used this tech in the past, even if all the journalists somehow have. (Except for Roman Mars – thanks for that tip.)

So, I have to wonder: have the journalists really forgotten? Are they committing journalistic malpractice here? Or have the feds responded to requests for comment with threats?

OK, now I’m a conspiracy theorist!

Edited to add: I said “are they, though?” because I thought you were saying they had to find people by these social media / informant relatives means. But you weren’t; you were saying they didn’t round them up at the time, so they have to find them later. Quite right. I’ll take that part out.

[cannibalpeas]

@Carbonman

He’s a shibari aficionado, perhaps?

Shibaji is predicated on consent, so I doubt it. Of course, if he’s into non-consensual bondage, he’s in good company in today’s GOP.

Eric Greitens

Get ready to hear more about this gem. He’s running for Senate in ‘22.

[VeronicaConnor]

@JohnEightThirty

Edited to add: I said “are they, though?” because I thought you were saying they had to find people by these social media / informant relatives means. But you weren’t; you were saying they didn’t round them up at the time, so they have to find them later. Quite right. I’ll take that part out.

I think it’s still a fair question, even with the caveat. Is this a choice between unconstitutional warrants and not catching these people at all? That feels like a false dichotomy (like maybe the FBI just does this because they can and it’s easy) but I don’t really know.

I hope it is a false dichotomy, because I don’t want to live in a world where the choices for holding accountable some of the biggest and most obvious criminals in US history are:

1. Dragnet surveillance of everyone
2. Huge police presence everywhere, just in case
3. Everyone gets away with insurrection except fucking shaman guy

[Scientist]

This makes me wonder where his “I was there” shirt was made and if they have any other customers that the FBI should be speaking with

[robertmckenna]

@JohnEightThirty

. I find it curious that none of the reporting on the roundup mentions this, but a cell phone identifies its owner, even if they don’t make a call, by connecting to cell towers, which they do continually. The FBI knows this, and like all law-enforcement agencies, has used it in previous cases. Journalists know this. The silence is deafening

Dunno about you but nobody at any protest I’ve been at has had such absolutely shit for brains opsec to boast about it on arsebook if shit went down. Let alone wear the actual t-shirt.

[fuzzyfungus]

@beschizza

“I don’t feel that I’ve done anything wrong and now I’m being locked up,”

This is why they make those “fuck your feelings” t-shirts, right?

[SamSam]

I may be missing something, but aren’t they arresting people based on whether they actually entered the Capitol, not whether they were just outside, right? So I don’t see how the cell phone data would be what they’re actually basing this on.

[awesomerobot]

On the bright side this is a remarkable resume for hole digging.

[johnd]

Now he’s a real rocket surgeon.

[stumo]

If it was an FBI agent that set up the “I was there” Etsy store, well done!

I also suspect that phone records are enough to prove someone was in the vicinity, but not necessarily that they were in the actual building. Depends on the location and strength of cell towers there, but urban environments get a lot of reflection of radio waves so accuracy can suffer. So getting some additional evidence (or a confession) will help.

Certainly does work as a first pass filter, and they may even be able to do cunning things by comparing signal strength with those who are confirmed as in the building

[JohnEightThirty]

@robertmckenna

@JohnEightThirty

I find it curious that none of the reporting on the roundup mentions this, but a cell phone identifies its owner,

Dunno about you but nobody at any protest I’ve been at has had such absolutely shit for brains opsec to boast about it on arsebook if shit went down. Let alone wear the actual t-shirt.

And you turn you phone off too, right? Because you can be tracked by it. Though the news media are somehow unaware of this.