Many of the Trump supporters in Wednesday's Capitol mob were not wearing masks — a sign not just of their cavalier attitude concerning the raging pandemic, but also, perhaps, their lack of concern about being potentially identified as insurrectionists.
One notable example, cited by Facebook's Tom Gara, is Richard "Bigo" Barnett, who apparently posed in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office with his feet up on her desk and admitted to the press that he took one of her envelopes as a sort of souvenir. "It's all so surreal," Gara explained. "This guy didn't just loot Pelosi's office, he spoke on record to [The New York Times] about it and gave them his full name and age." The Washington Post's Jon Swaine added that Barnett had also reportedly "prepared for a violent death," having written on Facebook that "I came into this world kicking and screaming, covered in someone else's blood. I'm not afraid to go out the same way."
Slate's Sam Adams echoed Gara's unease about the lack of concern by the mob in protecting their identities. "These people believe they will face no consequences, and thus far they are sickeningly correct," he tweeted in apparent reference to the numerous easily-identifiable right-wing personalities in attendance, and the shockingly low number of arrests made on Wednesday.
Subscribe to 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.
The investigative journalism website Bellingcat has launched an effort to compile photographs and videos from the Capitol storming, not to identify people who were there but to "enable future research" as websites and owners begin to delete the images. The FBI, meanwhile, tweeted Thursday that it is "seeking to identify individuals instigating violence in Washington, D.C.," and that it's "now accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting or violence in and around the U.S. Capitol on January 6."
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monumentsSpeed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seatspeed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring pushSpeed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additionsSpeed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein filesSpeed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oilSpeed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymanderSpeed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting voteSpeed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts
