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Some at US Capitol Riot Fired After Internet Detectives Identify Them


Supporters of President Donald Trump walk down the stairs outside the Senate Chamber as violence erupted at the Capitol following a breach of security, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
Supporters of President Donald Trump walk down the stairs outside the Senate Chamber as violence erupted at the Capitol following a breach of security, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

Some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol were fired from their jobs Thursday after internet sleuths publicized their identities.

The District of Columbia Police Department released photos of people in Wednesday's melee and potential charges against them. Sixty-eight people were arrested after an angry mob stormed the building, breaking windows, damaging fixtures and stealing furnishings.

The FBI also asked the public to help it identify rioters, a call that drew ribbing on social media in light of the prolific coverage of the event, including selfies posted by participants and videos of President Donald Trump's supporters at area hotels before the attack.

Some individuals who had previously been photographed at Trump rallies and supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory movement were quickly identified. Online detectives focused their efforts on others.

"Let's name and shame them!" read one Twitter thread devoted to outing participants.

One of the people shown in the D.C. police photos wore his work identification badge inside the Capitol and was identified and fired by his employer, Navistar Direct Marketing of Frederick, Maryland.

"While we support all employees' right to peaceful, lawful exercise of free speech, any employee demonstrating dangerous conduct that endangers the health and safety of others will no longer have an employment opportunity with Navistar Direct Marketing," the company said in a statement, without naming the man.

FILE - Pro-Trump protesters storm the U.S. Capitol to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.
FILE - Pro-Trump protesters storm the U.S. Capitol to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.

Libby Andrews, a real estate agent from Chicago, was fired by @properties and removed from its website, even though she had done nothing wrong and had not entered the Capitol, she said in an interview.

"I'm a 56-year-old woman, petite. I was not there causing trouble. I was there to support my president," Andrews said.

Andrews said she had climbed the steps of the Capitol without encountering security, posted selfies from the scene on Instagram, sang the national anthem and then moved on.

Rick Saccone, an adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, resigned after the college reviewed a video he posted on Facebook from the scene.

"As a result of that investigation, Dr. Saccone has submitted and we have accepted his letter of resignation, effective immediately," the college said in a statement.

Saccone, reached by phone, confirmed his resignation and said he did not see acts of violence and never crossed the threshold of the Capitol. Saccone said he deleted the video, which could not be viewed Thursday.

Paul Davis, a lawyer at Westlake, Texas-based Goosehead Insurance, used a social media account to broadcast his participation at the Capitol, saying that he had been teargassed.

A Goosehead spokesperson confirmed Davis had been fired.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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