Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, as part of a coup attempt to overturn November's presidential election results after being encouraged by the incumbent. The incident resulted in the deaths of five people, including Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, an ardent Trump supporter, and Brian D. Sicknick, a US Capitol Police officer.
As part of the ongoing investigation to identify key perpetrators, the FBI shared a message online appealing for information on individuals who participated and instigated the violence.
The FBI is seeking to identify individuals instigating violence in Washington, D.C. We are accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting or violence in and around the U.S. Capitol on January 6. If you have information, visit https://t.co/buMd8vYXzH.
"We are accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting or violence in and around the U.S. Capitol on January 6," said the official Twitter account for the FBI.
The callout for support was met with collective indignation, which quickly turned to trolling. Several people online pointed to the numerous social media posts, interviews, and open planning that had gone toward Wednesday's attack.
FBI tweeting asking for help to find people that are in clear 4k Ultra-wide 12megapixel autofocus LED dual-tone videos and pictures is comedy
The FBI: can anyone help us find the people who did this The people who did this:
Terrorists literally live-streamed insurrection and the FBI is like:
The FBI just does not know where to find those people that were at the capitol yesterday, and by golley needs our help identifying them!
FBI: We need help finding the people that broke into the Capitol! Trump Supporters: It was us, we did it. FBI: How will we ever find them? TS: We literally posted pictures and videos of ourselves doing it. FBI: Guess we'll never know! 😌
Good luck to the FBI in finding those Capitol Hill terrorists who didn’t wear disguises, filmed themselves the whole time, announced their full names on camera, and uploaded the videos to their public accounts. Could be one of the most unsolvable mysteries in criminal history!
It was suggested that there were more qualified figures who were up to the task.
Why is it so hard for the @FBI to find these people? @NevSchulman @KamieCrawford & @CatfishMTV find people faster than this. Just past them the pics! 🙄🥺
Kpop stans go to the @FBI page and find the names of the people that broke into the capital💙💜💚❤
Some people made a point of comparing the difference in how the FBI was appealing for help finding the perpetrators of a well-publicized riot led by majority-white Trump supporters versus how Black Lives Matter activists were treated.
the fbi tracked down a blm protestor from an etsy purchase, but need help figuring out who was at the capitol yesterday with maskless photos and videos. ok
The FBI today: “Please help us find these people who‘ve been photographed, interviewed by the news, and identified from their social media activity. We’re having such a difficult time.” The FBI tracking down BLM:
And when in doubt, the power of Twitter remained unmatched.
All the FBI needs to do is dump all them photos on Twitter and say “Twitter do your thing”. I guarantee that Twitter can find all of those people.
the point where people on twitter can find terrorists faster than the FBI is the point where the FBI really needs to reconsider its priorities and abilities
FBI seeing Twitter finding the names of all the terrorist before they do.