Police officers looking for the Capitol riot participants last week have a major advantage: a plethora of posts on social media and details of the suspects they seek.
Widespread social media posts from last week’s deadly uprising, along with other less public-facing technologies like cell phone metadata, are helping authorities as they seek to identify members of the pro-Trump crowd that broke into the Capitol building in 6 of January.
The Justice Department has already charged dozens of people associated with the riots just over a week after the event. Law enforcement experts say social media has not only helped track these individuals, but has provided ample evidence for prosecutors to build airtight cases.
“A treasure trove of rich evidence has been created and disseminated by the insurgents themselves,” said Adam Wandt, vice president of academic technology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to The Hill.
Social media sites were flooded with images and video clips of the crowd that broke into the Capitol. On the day, tweets and Facebook posts seemed to show protesters blatantly violating the laws – carrying firearms to the Capitol, raiding lawmakers’ offices and, in one case, stealing the pulpit of Mayor Nancy Pelosis (D-California) .
And despite the coronavirus restrictions in place that require facial coverage, the crowd was largely unmasked, which will help law enforcement agencies use facial recognition technology.
“We don’t normally see in the modern world – with video cameras and security cameras everywhere – we don’t normally see people who are committing multiple crimes at the same time so willing to show their face,” said Wandt.
“For some reason, the insurgents on Capitol felt very comfortable, and almost justified in their actions, because they freely announced who they were,” he added.
In less than two weeks since the riot, authorities have charged about 70 people in federal court for crimes committed on Capitol Hill on January 6, according to the Department of Justice.
Technology experts say that public posts on a wide range of technology platforms will pose challenges for individuals to defend themselves against the charges.
Darrell M. West, a senior member of the Brookings Institute’s Center for Technological Innovation, said many people involved in the turmoil had made public confessions – without even knowing it.
“People who took selfies inside the U.S. Capitol could be convicted of trespassing or illegal entry,” said West.
Adam Johnson, for example, was identified in a photo taken from Pelosi’s pulpit on Capitol Hill on the day of the riot. Johnson, wearing a “Trump” hat, is seen appearing waving in the widely shared photo taken of him in the federal building. He was accused of intentionally entering a restricted building, theft of government property and violent entry and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds.
Asked about the photo, Dan Eckhart, the lawyer representing Johnson, told reporters, “I don’t know how to explain this anymore. that would be a problem. I am not a magician. “
Richard Barnett, one of first accused individuals of the riot, he is accused of illegally entering Pelosi’s office and stealing public property, as well as of violent and disorderly conduct. Prosecutors said Barnett had left a note at Pelosi’s office.
Barnett publicly bragged about the same actions he was later accused of, saying The New York Times, “I wrote a nasty note for her, put my feet up on her table.”
In addition to the photos flooding social media platforms, many websites had posts before the riot, where participants meditated on a potentially violent event and organized the attack on the Capitol.
“Perry Mason would be jealous of the amount of digital evidence that is present in this case,” said West. “People left posts on all social networks and through emails and text messages, so promoters will have a field day.”
Most of the charges resulting from the riot so far are misdemeanors and petty crimes. But as officials scrutinize social media posts, as well as text messages and other communications, this could lead to more serious charges, such as conspiracy and seditious conspiracy, noted Wandt.
“They are not going to leave any stone unturned and are going to make very strict accusations about individuals,” he said.
Leading social media platforms, which cracked down on content that spreads conspiracy theories after the turmoil, have indicated that they will cooperate with law enforcement officials during the investigations.
A Facebook spokesman said the company is continuing to “continue proactive disclosure” of law enforcement. A Twitter spokesman said the company is working closely with law enforcement and federal government partners to mitigate potential risks and streamline requests for law enforcement that are in line with the platform’s guidelines.
Lawmakers are also looking for wireless service providers to share riot-related data on Capitol Hill to assist with investigations.
Sen. Mark Warner
Mark Robert Warner “Almost Heaven, West Virginia” – Joe Manchin and a 50-50 Senate confirmation hearing for Biden’s DNI choice postponed The Hill’s Morning Report – Trump impeachment again; what now? MORE (D-Va.), The probable incoming president of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote letters to tech giants and mobile operators urging them to preserve the content and metadata associated with the Capitol attack.
An AT&T spokesman said, “We have received and are reviewing the senator’s letter,” but declined to comment on the action the carrier took in providing information to law enforcement officials. T-Mobile has confirmed that it has received the letter and will fully cooperate with the authorities’ requests.
A spokesman for Verizon, who also received a letter from Warner, did not respond to a request for comment.
“I think the suspects don’t realize how much information is out there, because with geolocation devices, you can identify the location,” said West. “Many of the things they are doing have time stamped every minute and second, so the police will know what they were doing, where they were doing it and when they were doing it.”
In addition to social media and wireless data, the use of facial recognition technology also helped the police search for Capitol troublemakers. The controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI saw an increase in usage.
Clearview Chief Executive Hoan Ton-That confirmed in a statement that the company saw a 26% increase in usage on January 7. The increase in the company was first reported by the Times.
Traditional facial recognition tools used by law enforcement officers rely on government-provided photo databases, but Clearview has a database of more than 3 billion photos collected from social media platforms.
As the authorities use the prevailing online information to increase riot investigations, this also draws attention to the amount of personal information available digitally.
“People will be surprised at the amount of information online that exists about everyone,” said West. “In this case, that information is being compiled because people are suspicious in criminal cases, but everyone else should be aware that there is a lot of information about everyone.”