Swipe alt-right: Capitol riot suspect arrested after bragging about it on dating app Bumble
Robert Chapman allegedly inside the US Capitol
((FBI))A New York man has been arrested for allegedly taking part in the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January, after bragging about his involvement on the dating app Bumble.
Robert Chapman, from Carmel in New York State, was arrested by the FBI on Thursday in connection to the riot on 6 January, where five people died and several more were injured, as a group of pro-Trump supporters breached the building during the confirmation of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
Prosecutors charged him with disorderly conduct on restricted government property and trespassing. He was released on his own recognisance following his arrest on Thursday.
In Mr Chapman’s charging documents, the FBI said that they began investigating his alleged involvement in the insurrection after receiving information about posts he made on social media and messages he sent on Bumble in the days following the riot.
The FBI claimed that he messaged a woman he matched with on Bumble in January, saying: “I did storm the capitol” and adding that he “made it all the way into Statuary Hall.”
Prosecutors included a screenshot of the conversation from Bumble into charging papers, showing the woman responding to Mr Chapman’s messages about the riot by writing: “We are not a match,” prompting him to add: “I suppose not.”
Prosecutors said that they were shown bodycam footage from the DC Metropolitan Police Department that showed a man resembling Mr Chapman inside the Statuary Hall on the day of the insurrection.
While writing on Facebook in the days leading up to the insurrection, Mr Chapman said that he was leaving New York for a few days and wrote: “Gonna go down to the District of Criminality to Enjoy some much deserved entertainment,” according to the charging documents.
Prosecutors then claimed that on 6 January he wrote on Facebook that he was “INSIDE THE CRAPITOL!!!” and posted pictures from inside of it.
The FBI was also made aware of a Facebook post in January where another man shared a photo that appeared to show Mr Chapman inside of the Capitol during the riot.
The man captioned the photo: “My Dear friend and Brostar Robert made it in the Capitol building at the protest yesterday ....Woo Hooooooooo!!!!”
Mr Chapman made his first court appearance on Thursday, appearing via teleconference in federal court in White Plains, New York State.
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