All The Stupidest Ways the Capitol Rioters Got Caught

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

In the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol building, the feds are presumably working day and night to track down everyone involved. For many of the rioters, this has apparently not been challenging. Some of the more prominent characters, like Jake Angeli, the “QAnon Shaman” who is currently receiving organic food for his “strict shamanic diet” while in federal custody, were just so insanely dressed that they weren’t hard to pin down. Others cropped up in such surreal and widely circulated photos that acquaintances were able to spot them and tip off the FBI—such is the case for the Florida man who appears in photos waving like an overeager tourist with an unwieldy lectern in tow.

Many of the rest showed up elsewhere: on live TV, in press photos, in their own livestreams and selfies. (Many also apparently thought federal law enforcement would not have access to deleted Facebook posts.) They left behind extensive phone and text records, message board posts, and social media activity, where many of these people used their real names to plan how the day would go down. Perhaps most ironic of all is fact that very few of the invaders were wearing face masks—which would have been a good idea, given the pandemic—making them all the more easy to identify.

This is all honestly pretty dark—these guys crossed the line that day, but it seems clear that far-right conspiracy theorists and white supremacists have gotten used to operating in the open. All of the idiocy is undergirded by a sense of entitlement that’s pretty logical, historically speaking. And if this bunch can get as close as they did to gunning down U.S. Senators on live TV—as it seems may have been the plan for at least some—it’s chilling to imagine what someone with actual smarts could do.

But as deeply terrifying as the events at the Capitol were—and continue to be, as we find out more—we can’t help but find a little comic relief in just how absurdly some of these guys got themselves caught. We’ve tracked down a few highlights.

-more-

https://www.gq.com/story/all-the-stupidest-ways-the-capitol-rioters-got-caught

[LSFL]

1. " People with actual smarts"

Hmmmm...I see a flaw here. The people with a certain low cunning may able to whip these goons into a seditious frenzy. But the goons will always be ignoramuses. Smart people would have never taken part in the physical stuff.