WASHINGTON (CN) — More than 700 Americans have been arrested and charged for their participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — having been identified by the FBI on video footage or turned in by acquaintances, family and friends. For a strong majority of rioters, however, the incriminating evidence cited in their indictments was self-inflicted.
Social media posts have led to 80% of the charges to date, whether implicating the account holders themselves or individuals pictured in the photos or videos of another rioter’s post. Hundreds of them bragged about their actions in front of thousands of people, confidently posting on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Youtube, Parler and more, and creating a fairly easy job for FBI agents.
One Capitol rioter, Jenna Ryan, documented her entry into the Capitol building with a 21-minute live Facebook video in which she promoted her real estate business.
“We are going to fucking go in here. Life or death, it doesn’t matter. Here we go,” Ryan told viewers as she was walked up the steps at the Capitol. “Y’all know who to hire for your Realtor. Jenna Ryan for your Realtor.”
The next day, she told Twitter users that storming the Capitol was one of the best days of her life.
Fellow rioter James Bonet posted a video of himself sharing a joint with comrades inside Senator Jeff Merkley’s office on Facebook. And if the title of his video, “Smoking at the Capitol building,” wasn't clear enough, Bonet narrated it as well: “Capitol building smoking with all my people!”
Donna Sue Bissey, posted on Facebook, “It was a day I’ll remember forever. I’m proud that I was a part of it! No shame. BTW turn off the #FakeNews.”
As interpreted by Jonathan Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, which has been tracking Capitol rioters, the rampant and seemingly unashamed posting tells the public that many rioters actually believed that their actions were legitimate.
“It doesn’t take a legal mind to know that if you’re going through a broken window and alarms are going off, that’s not a legal way to enter the Capitol,” Lewis said. Yet, hundreds of rioters posted on social media, seemingly clueless that their actions would be prosecuted, that they would be punished for their “heroism.”
“For a lot of them, they might not have really seemed to care,” Lewis said. “It’s crazy that they were so open about committing criminal offenses. A lot of them had the genuine belief that they were going to be on the right side of history.”
The vast majority of rioters posted on social media during or after their time at the Capitol, but some — many of whom helped plan and recruit — posted before Jan. 6. The scope of the offline or encrypted coordination by far-right groups, like the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters or the Oath Keepers remains unclear, but charging papers illustrate how the leaders, members and affiliates of these groups used mainstream social media to promote the attack.
Kelly Meggs, the leader of a chapter of the Oath Keepers in Florida, sent a Facebook message in late December saying, “Trump said It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your s***.”
In another message, Meggs wrote, “Dc is no guns. So mace and gas masks, some batons. If you have armor that’s good.”
Thomas Caldwell, who is called “Commander Tom” by other Oath Keepers, posted on Facebook, “THIS IS OUR CALL TO ACTION, FRIENDS! SEE YOU ON THE 6TH in WASHINGTON, D.C. ALONG WITH 2 MILLION OTHER LIKE-MINDED PATRIOTS.”
Meanwhile, Ethan Nordean, a Seattle-based Proud Boy leader, posted on Parler in December that he needed “protective gear” and “communications equipment.”
“Let them remember the day they decided to make war with us,” Nordean said in one of the videos he posted on Parler.
Right-wing militia groups aren’t the only ones who have built up a following on mainstream media platforms: QAnon conspirators have also started to migrate out into the open on social media, building up an online presence full of believers and admirers.
“They talked about how they wanted to make history, they asked for prayers and safety and protection,” said Sara Aniano, a Monmouth University researcher who studies QAnon instagram “influencers,” some of whom stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. “They felt like they had this duty to save America.”
Aniano says that it’s the comment sections that keep these QAnon accounts alive, with dozens of individuals writing words of encouragement and praise.
“They were trying to serve their followers, they were trying to create content,” Aniano said. “This was just another opportunity for great content creation.”
Years of online radicalization led to the Capitol riot, as far right groups accumulated on mainstream platforms, and disinformation abounded. Lewis explains that this buildup — compounded by anger over Covid-19 mandates, protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd and conspiracy theories about a stolen election — created the perfect storm for domestic extremism in January 2021.
Aniano meanwhile noted that prosecution of the extremists is not in itself a solution. “Historically, when things like QAnon move to the mainstream media, it’s a strong indication that they are spiraling out of control,” said Aniano. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the reach and the ease and global scale of social media. And, it’s just going to keep on happening, unless stricter mitigation of misinformation is implemented at a higher level.”
Social media has formed the backbone of the majority of Jan. 6 prosecutions, but it will likely not last, as the “low-hanging fruit” of Capitol rioters have already been charged.
Now, the FBI’s job has grown more difficult. More recent arrests have come from body-worn cameras on law enforcement, geofencing data, and individuals who were seen in video or photo evidence that was obtained from a previously arrested defendant.
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