An Uber driver helped the FBI arrest a participant in the Capitol riot by turning in a dashcam recording of a conversation he had with a passenger on Jan. 6, NBC News reports per court records unsealed Tuesday.
On Jan. 6, the Uber driver picked up a rioter, named Jerry Braun, in downtown Washington, D.C. about an hour after the curfew imposed by Mayor Muriel Bowser. The driver and his passenger — who was sporting a visible eye injury — began chatting about the attack while a camera mounted in the car recorded the conversation.
Braun then admitted to attending the riot and tearing down barricades leading up to the Capitol. "How'd that work out for ya?" the driver asked Braun, per NBC News.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Well," he reportedly replied, "it looks like, uh, Biden's gonna be our president."
The Uber driver later gave footage of the conversation to the police, and Braun was eventually arrested earlier this month on charges of obstruction during civil disorder, entering and remaining on restricted grounds, and violent or disorderly conduct.
A group of "online sleuths" also helped the FBI catch Braun, though that isn't explicitly mentioned in the affidavit, NBC News reports. The group has "successfully identified hundreds of additional Capitol rioters who have not yet been arrested by the FBI," NBC News writes.
When the FBI searched Braun's California home in November 2021, the bureau found a selfie on his phone in which his eye injury is visible. Braun called the mark a "souvenir from D.C."
"After being asked by the agents if BRAUN had anything he wanted to tell them before he departed the search location, BRAUN responded, 'Guilty,'" the affidavit reads, per NBC News. "When asked what he was guilty of, BRAUN responded, 'Everything.'"
-
‘Mental health care is health care’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
6 Broadway shows coming to a local theater near youThe Week Recommends Harry Potter makes an appearance. As do the wives of Henry VIII.
-
Judge rejects top state charges in Mangione caseSpeed Read If convicted, Mangione faces up to life in state prison
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
