The Justice Department has charged a Capitol rioter who was turned in by somebody he matched with on the relationship app Bumble, after he bragged about his exploits on January 6.
According to courtroom paperwork, one week after the assault, Robert Chapman of New York instructed certainly one of his Bumble matches that “I did storm the Capitol” and said that he “made it all the way into Statuary Hall.” He additionally claimed that he was interviewed by members of the media. The different Bumble person replied, “we aren’t a match.”
Prosecutors said the user then quickly reached out to the FBI and provided screenshots of the conversation.
Investigators said in court filings that they corroborated Chapman’s claims by comparing his Bumble profile picture to body camera footage from police officers who were inside the Capitol.
Chapman was charged with four misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He hasn’t entered a plea and his lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment on the charges.
According to screenshots in court filings, Chapman also posted to Facebook before the January 6 insurrection that he was traveling to the “District of Criminality,” referring to Washington, DC.
Incriminating social media posts like these have grow to be a trademark of the Capitol riot investigation. In dozens of circumstances, prosecutors quoted rioters’ posts from Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Parler, Snapchat, and different websites the place they bragged about their alleged crimes.
More than 390 individuals have been charged with federal crimes in reference to the assault.
According to courtroom data, Chapman was arrested on Thursday and launched by a federal Justice of the Peace choose in the Southern District of New York. Most Capitol riot defendants who aren’t charged with violent crimes together with Chapman have been launched from jail earlier than trial.
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