TAMER FAKAHANY
DEPUTY DIRECTOR – GLOBAL NEWS COORDINATION, LONDON
Sources: The Associated Press
Media www.rajawalisiber.com – These weren’t suspects who were at pains to stay below the radar.
“THIS IS ME,” one man posted on Instagram with a hand emoji pointing to himself in a picture of the violent mob descending on the U.S. Capitol.
“Sooo we’ve stormed Capitol Hill lol,” one woman texted someone while inside the building. “I just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol,” another wrote on Facebook about a selfie he took inside during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
In dozens of cases on social media, Trump supporters flaunted their activities on the day of the deadly riot, Michael Balsamo, Alanna Durkin Richer and Colleen Long report.
Some, apparently realizing they were in trouble with the law, deleted their accounts only to discover their friends and family members had already taken screenshots of their selfies, videos and comments and sent them to the FBI.
It has helped authorities charge about 150 people with federal crimes. But even with the help from the rioters themselves, investigators have still had to work rigorously to link the images to the vandalism and suspects to the acts that fateful day of insurrection in the nation’s seat of democracy.
Election Investigation: The Justice Department’s inspector general is launching an investigation to examine whether any former or current department officials “engaged in an improper attempt” to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The investigation will probe allegations concerning the conduct of former and current Justice Department officials but will not extend to other government officials. The investigation comes after The New York Times reported that a former assistant attorney general, Jeffrey Clark, had been discussing a plan with then-President Trump to oust the acting attorney general and try to challenge the results of the presidential race, Michael Balsamo reports.