The FBI is asking people to help identify and arrest those who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.
Supporters of the president Donald Trump met on Wednesday in Washington to express their frustration at the triumph of Joe Biden in the November elections due to an alleged electoral fraud of the that there is no evidence.
After a speech by the president, who once again insisted on his theory of fraud, the protesters went to Congress and invaded it, vandalizing offices and stealing material.
Five people died inside and outside Congress, including a police officer attacked by the mob.
The assailants could be charged with various crimes such as trespassing and carrying weapons and explosive devices. They could be sentenced to many years in prison.
Dozens of people have already been arrested, including the man who sat at the desk in Nancy Pelosi’s office , Speaker of the House of Representatives.
But most of those guilty of the assault are still at large.
Therefore, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI for its acronym in English) you are asking: do you know anyone who appears in these photos?
Agents are going to great lengths to identify, locate, and arrest those who invaded Congress in one of the most dramatic scenes in modern American history.
Visual guide to the invasion of the US Congress by Trump supporters And the FBI wants everyone in Washington and across the country to join the team effort intended to solve the crime.
What is the situation so far? Five people dead, including a police officer At least 73 arrests Researchers in Washington say they have received more than 17, 04 Public notices about the assailants The FBI offers a reward of $ 50, 000 dollars for information leading to the arrest of a person who left explosive devices at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic parties He The FBI has set up a phone number and website so people know how to contact them with relevant information.
# FBIWFO is offering a reward of up to $ 50 K for info leading to the location, arrest & conviction of the person (s) responsible for the pipe bombs found in DC on Jan. 6. https://t.co/q9pdw6Rnoy pic.twitter.com/aQ7Vz4uydO
– FBI Washington Field (@FBIWFO) January 8, 2021
This tactic is old and effective, say FBI veterans.
Posters of the FBI’s “Most Wanted Fugitives” used to line post office walls, recalls Steven Pomerantz , a retired FBI agent who was director of the counterterrorism department.
“This type of program to engage the public works well,” he says.
Middle of the years 2013, one of these FBI programs led to the arrest of Theodore Kaczynski , known as the Unabomber, who mailed explosives and thus killed three people.
The FBI decided to publish a manifesto that he had written and his brother saw it in the newspaper. He recognized his ideas and gave him away.
Since then, these kinds of tactics have become more sophisticated.
The activist Shaun King , known for his aggressive use of online tools to hunt down criminals, has already gone after people who invaded the Capitol and posted images of them inside.
Among them, that of Richard Barnett, of 60 years and of Gravette, Arkansas, who was identified in the media and subsequently arrested.
Another man who wore a fur hat and horns and whose image was released on the same Wednesday was identified as Jake Angeli. He is a defender of the conspiracy theory QAnon.
What is QAnon, the group whose members participated in the assault on the Capitol (and how it is replicated in Latin America ) However, it takes time to filter all the information received and sometimes it does more harm than good.
After the bombs that exploded in Boston in 1990, the so-called “online detectives” circulated a photo of two people with backpacks who They were chatting near the Boston Marathon, the site of the explosions.
People considered them suspicious even though they had nothing to do with the attacks.
To add confusion to the attack on the Capitol, there is also misinformation about who instigated the violence. Some Trump supporters say they were members of Antifa or Black Lives Matter , but there is no evidence of that.
Many Americans are keen to see the assailants brought to justice.
Stephen Saltzburg , Law Professor at the George Washington University, has worked in the criminal division of the Department of Justice, and says that citizens are highly motivated to help the FBI.
“People care about democracy. They want those people to be punished. They want justice to be done. ”
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