One of the hundreds of pro-Trump rioters arrested for barging into the US Capitol in January was sold out to the feds by a potential love interest, after he admitted on Bumble that he “did storm the capitol.”
As the old wartime adage goes, “loose lips sink ships.” Robert Chapman discovered this for himself in January during a conversation with a match on Bumble, a popular dating app. In no uncertain terms, Chapman told his potential lover that he “did storm the capitol,” and that he “made it all the way into Statuary Hall!” Not only did he share this information with his match, he also told her that he spoke to reporters with the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.
A New York man, Robert Chapman, has been charged with entering the Capitol on Jan 6. The FBI began investigating Chapman after they got a tip from one of his Bumble matches. The FBI included the Bumble screenshot in the charging documents. pic.twitter.com/ctHHYk44a5
Chapman’s zeal for right-wing protest didn’t go down well. After telling him “we are not a match,” the unidentified woman turned records of the conversation over to the FBI, whose agents quickly dug up Facebook posts by Chapman boasting in all caps “I’M F**KIN INSIDE THE CRAPITOL!!!”, according to court documents filed this month.
After staking Chapman out, the FBI arrested him and charged him with entering a restricted building and disturbing “the orderly conduct of a session of Congress.”
Chapman isn’t the only Capitol rioter turned in by those closest to him. Out of hundreds arrested and charged, some were turned in by their families, and one was handed over by his scorned ex-girlfriend. Others have been tracked down by amateur online investigators, keen to help the US national security apparatus in their spare time.
Chapman was released without bail on Thursday, NBC New York reported. Though he will have to show up in court, he has for now avoided the harsh treatment some of his comrades have received. Rioters held in pretrial detention in Washington, DC, claim that they’ve been beaten and abused by guards, with one alleging that guards broke his jaw and damaged his eye.
Though DC officials deny the allegations, some unlikely defenders have spoken up for the detained rioters. Democrat Senators Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and Dick Durbin (Illinois) have both condemned the 23-hour solitary confinement that several dozen suspects are being held in.
“Solitary confinement is a form of punishment that is cruel and psychologically damaging,” Warren told Politico this week. “And we’re talking about people who haven’t been convicted of anything yet.” The progressive senator said that she was concerned that law enforcement officials are trying to “punish” the defendants or to “break them so that they will cooperate.”
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