Many ‘friends’ helped the FBI identify the South Floridians charged in Capitol siege

The “friends” who reported Samuel Camargo to the FBI hadn’t seen him since 2017. The Snapchat follower who turned in Felipe Marquez claimed to not know him that well. Some Facebook viewers watched Gabriel Garcia’s live stream, leading at least one person to notify the cops.

These three South Florida men all were arrested when a stream of tips came in to the FBI about the men’s alleged participation in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. All across the country, anonymous tipsters are coming out of the woodwork to make the job of finding and charging rioters easy. Their screen-shotting and recording of images and videos have given authorities a clear road map to suspects, who, in many cases, uploaded the content on their own.

More than 100 have been arrested since Jan. 6. And the FBI, the lead agency in charge, says more arrests are coming thanks to an outpouring of tips from acquaintances, neighbors, old flames and, in some cases, those with far stronger ties to the suspects.

“Even your friends and family are tipping us off,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, the FBI’s Washington field office assistant director in charge. “So you might want to consider turning yourself in instead of wondering when we’re going to come knocking on your door — because we will.”

Christopher Macchiaroli, a former D.C. Assistant U.S. Attorney, said prosecutors and the FBI have always relied on tips like these to find suspects. But the magnitude of information — 200,000 pieces of content and counting — is unheard of.

Macchiaroli says that’s because the crime is like no other and it happened right before our eyes. “This isn’t some wire fraud case or money laundering,” he said. “Your grandparents could figure out what is evidence in this case.”

Not to mention more than half the country has a political incentive to rat on their ideological opponents. “To them, they are turned off by these people and their belief is the person is going to get what’s coming.”

In an emailed response to questions from the South Florida Sun Sentinel about his arrest, Marquez, of Coral Springs, says he has an idea who might have tipped off the FBI about his time in Washington, D.C.

But given our nation’s politically charged moment, he doesn’t even blame them.

“I feel my friend was just trying to do the right thing,” he said, “the same way I felt like I was trying to do the right thing by protesting.”

A Snapchat sleuth

Marquez, like Garcia and Camargo, made his way up to Washington, D.C., for planned rallies in support of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6. Throughout the trip, Marquez, 25, shot a series of clips on Snapchat while driving his Tesla and vaping.

Little did he know that one of his followers was secretly documenting his every move.

A longtime ride-share driver, Marquez said he went to D.C. to protest the “normalization of prostitution” and Communism. Between 2012 and 2019, he said he was a Democrat, but drifted toward conservatism after seeing policies that he said destroyed families and in particular, Black families.

He said he became a Trump supporter after learning more about economic disparities between races, and policies that he believed helped close them. He felt dismayed by the way Trump was treated in office. “I feel Trump was done like Richard Nixon but to a greater scale.”

In D.C., Marquez uploaded clips of himself participating in outdoor rallies.

Before entering the Capitol Building, Marquez uploaded a clip showing people scaling a wall on the building, according to his criminal complaint. In his very next video, he is inside a private office belonging to Sen. Jeff Merkley, of Oregon. He smokes his vape pen and shows off his red “Keep America Great” hat.

The entire four-minute compilation of everything he uploaded during his trip was screen-recorded by someone who told the FBI that they had friends in common and had been following Marquez’s Snapchat account for years.

The tipster knew Marquez enough to identify him for agents after seeing his driver’s license photo.

Marquez told the Sun Sentinel that he entered the Capitol because “I was under the impression that police were letting us in.” He said it was cold outside and he needed to use the bathroom. He said he entered the senator’s office because he wanted to “see what was in the room.”

He said he did not participate in trashing the room. He said he talked to a man who had been tear-gassed, used the bathroom and was later found by police and escorted out. “I was 100% non-violent.”

FBI agents showed up at his home two weeks later and arrested him. Now, he’s prepping for a trial in Washington, D.C. “I feel this is my Rosa Parks and [Martin Luther King Jr.3/8 moment in history,” he said. “I do not feel like a criminal,” he said.

Facebook spies

Garcia, 40, shot a Facebook Live video of a throng of people marching in the direction of the Capitol Building about 20 minutes before he entered it, according to his criminal complaint.

A retired U.S. Army Captain and Proud Boys member, Garcia uploaded more Facebook Live videos of himself in a heated standoff with police inside the Capitol Building. He called the police “traitors” and riled up the crowd behind him, authorities say. “You ain’t stopping a million,” he yelled.

According to the criminal complaint, Facebook provided information about his account and his videos inside the Capitol to the FBI. It is unclear how or when Garcia’s account was flagged. Representatives from Facebook did not respond to requests for comment.

Garcia’s Facebook account also was used to nail down biographical information about him and, eventually, his address in Miami. He was arrested on Jan. 19.

In August, Garcia came up about 3,000 votes shy of being the winner of a primary race for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. He raised nearly $20,000 in his failed bid, according to campaign finance records. Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the Miami-based leader of the Proud Boys, told the Sun Sentinel that Garcia is a Proud Boys member, but declined to comment further.

In previous interviews, Tarrio, who was arrested two days before the Capitol riot, said he’d given an order for no members to enter the Capitol Building and was not aware of any who had. Thus far, at least two Florida Proud Boy members have been arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 riot.

Garcia did not respond to a request for comment, and his attorney declined to speak.

Old college pals

The early Instagram stories that Camargo, 26, shared on Jan. 6 showed him among the crowd in rallies supporting former President Donald Trump. On Facebook, in the days before the rallies, Camargo had previously re-shared debunked election fraud claims peddled by Trump.

But later that day on Jan. 6, Camargo’s Instagram content abruptly shifted, documenting him in a battle with Capitol Police.

In one story, he attempts to wrestle a door into the Capitol open while police on the other side try to keep it closed. Later a video shows him inside the Capitol Building and holding what looks to be a piece of the door. “Got some [memorabilia], did it myself,” he wrote in the story, according to his criminal complaint.

Among the people who viewed the stories were two of his former college classmates at Florida Gulf University. They hadn’t seen him since 2017, but remained friends on Instagram, where they took screenshots of his videos and sent them to the FBI.

Later, they positively identified him for agents and even gave them his cellphone number.

After the Capitol Building was cleared out by police that night, Camargo took to his Facebook page, where he posted an apology for his actions and a pledge to participate in any investigations. After being interviewed by the FBI on Jan. 8, he went back to Facebook and wrote, “I believed I’ve been cleared.”

However, his complaint says he became uncooperative during an interview and questioned an FBI agent’s loyalty to the Constitution.

On Jan. 16, a day after his criminal complaint was signed in Washington, D.C., Camargo posted a status on Facebook asking for suggestions on where to eat brunch. Friends responded that jail was imminent and he should focus on other things. When Camargo said he’d be going to Panera, another friend said fast food was a bad choice for a last meal.

“I disagree,” Camargo wrote, “their bread bowl broccoli cheddar is amazing.”

When police showed up on Jan. 19 at his home in Deerfield Beach, Camargo was on the road, headed to Washington, D.C., for Joe Biden’s inauguration.

He never made it. He was arrested on Jan. 20 in Virginia. In an interview after his arrest, he admitted to knowing about his pending charge and deciding to try and attend the inauguration rather than turn himself in.

Andrew Boryga can be reached at 954-356-4533 or aboryga@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Twitter @borywrites.