Even now, deep into the age of Twitter and YouTube, I am bemused by the fact that the violent mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 couldn’t resist shooting and posting so many photos and videos of themselves. But I’m glad they did.
Thanks to that bravado and some demented hunger for fame at any cost, federal investigators report they’ve received more than 140,000 tips and digital media, including an eye-popping array showing riot perpetrators in the Capitol during the insurrection.
After making more than 100 arrests, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency had more than 200 subject case files open.
I am sadly accustomed to seeing too many young hoodlums, driven by insane bravado and too much time on their hands, commit awful crimes that they put online, as if the police didn’t know how to use social media too.
But seeing the angry and largely middle-class Capitol rioters indulging in the same weird narcissism as they attempted an insurrection reveals a derangement mixed with kooky amateurism.
Take, for example, the Chicago man who was arrested Jan. 13 after posting on Instagram and then deleting — but not quickly enough to escape investigators’ attention — a photo of the plaque outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ransacked office. He’s also posted the message “STOP THE STEAL.”
That’s the hashtag and rallying cry adopted by supporters of Donald Trump’s false claims that President Joe Biden’s election was stolen. During the riot that some call an insurrection, the sign outside Pelosi’s office was stolen, as were numerous other items.
Kevin Lyons, 40, of Chicago was arrested at home, where FBI agents confronted him with the photo, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“Wow you are pretty good,” Lyons said to investigators, according to the criminal complaint. “That was up for only an hour.”
Yes, the FBI is pretty good at finding suspects, especially when the suspects leave online fingerprints.
At the request of the agents, according to the charging documents, Lyons turned over images and video that included “Podium Guy,” according to the Tribune. Better known as Adam Johnson, 36, the Florida man can be seen in a widely distributed news photo apparently carrying off the House speaker’s lectern.
Some stories from the photo-assisted roundup reveal a narrative that sounds like a rough poetic justice. For example, there’s the retired Air Force veteran, wearing a green helmet and carrying a bunch of plastic zip-tie handcuffs in the hallowed halls of Congress. He was identified, the FBI says, through a tip from his ex-wife. Possible lesson: It pays to be nice to your ex.
Other videos could have implications for politicians, such as Sen. Ted Cruz who wasn’t even there. For months the Texas Republican has been pushing some of Trump’s election fraud lies that helped fuel the resentments that led to the riot.
In a video released by the New Yorker, the former and possibly future presidential candidate’s name is dropped by one small squad of rioters in a way that is not likely to help his political hopes.
“He’s with us,” one of the group says of Cruz as they rummage through papers found on lawmakers’ desks, apparently searching for evidence to back up somebody’s conspiracy theory. “I think Cruz would want us to do this,” says one of the men, “so I think we’re good.”
No, not good, says the FBI, among others. In the aftermath of the riot, Cruz’s communications director resigned, Democrats discussed censuring him and Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, suggested that he should be added to the no-fly list.
Of course, we shouldn’t rush to judgment based on something uttered by a lawbreaker who, like the other rioters, doesn’t want to accept the election results.
A new Harris Poll found widespread concern among Americans about government tracking of their whereabouts through their smartphones and other digital devices. An overwhelming majority say that a warrant should be required to obtain such data.
But in this age, when there is a camera in nearly everybody’s pocket, that genie is hard to put back in its bottle. Either way, it’s prudent to remember the old saying: “Character is what you do when nobody’s watching.” These days, it’s more likely than ever that somebody is.
Clarence Page is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
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