Robert Chapman, one of the agitators of the Capitol, boasted of his exploits during the January 6 attack on the dating app Bumble and now the Justice Department accuses him of having participated in the events, after a user betrayed him.
According to court documents, a week after the attack, Robert Chapman of New York told one of the people he contacted on Bumble that he had been in the attack. “I broke into the Capitol,” he wrote. And he also said “I made it to Statuary Hall!” He also said that members of the media had interviewed him.
According to court documents, a week after the attack, Robert Chapman of New York told one of the people he connected with on Bumble that he had attacked “the Capitol” and made it “all the way to Statuary Hall.”
The other Bumble user replied, “We are not compatible.”
Prosecutors said the user quickly contacted the FBI and provided screenshots of the conversation.
In court documents, investigators said they corroborated Chapman’s claims by comparing his profile photo of Bumble to body camera footage of police officers inside the Capitol.
Cops describe violence on Capitol Hill 4:45
Robert Chapman’s Facebook Posts
Chapman is charged with four misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds. He has not pleaded guilty and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the charges.
According to the screenshots found in the court documents, Chapman also posted on Facebook prior to the January 6 attack that he was traveling to the “Crime District,” referring to the city of Washington, which is in English. identifies as Washington DC (for District of Columbia). And on the day of the insurrection, he allegedly posted that he was inside the Capitol in a message in English with an offensive pun “I’M F — IN INSIDE THE CRAPITOL.”
Incriminating posts like these on social media have become a hallmark of the investigation into the riot on Capitol Hill. In dozens of cases, prosecutors cited the agitators’ posts on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Parler, Snapchat and other sites where they bragged about their alleged crimes.
Message results in charges against Capitol attacker 0:37
More than 390 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the attack.
According to court documents, Chapman was arrested Thursday and later released by a federal judge in the Southern District of New York. Most defendants in the Capitol riots who are not charged with violent crimes, including Chapman, were released before trial.