Facebook Tipster Led FBI To Brooklyn Capitol Rioter: Feds

Park Slope NY

20 April, 2021

4:23 PM

Description

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn man charged Tuesday for attending the riots at the U.S. Capitol was found based on a tip from a Facebook group, court documents show. Dovid Schwartzberg, 19, turned himself into the FBI on Tuesday after admitting to investigators that he was the person in photos showing people leaving the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, prosecutors said. His arrest comes three months after a person who saw the photos in a Facebook group sent them, and a Twitter video of Schwartzberg, who is from Kensington, to the FBI, according to the court documents. "[The person] does not wish to testify but indicated that he/she felt it was his/her duty to report the information," investigators said. A line of people exit the Capitol building. One bloodied in the head and more came out who previously stormed the building. pic.twitter.com/0MF2aAp3Ly— Matthew Miller (@mattmiller757) January 6, 2021 The FBI later confirmed with DMV photos, surveillance video, and eventually Schwartzberg himself, that it was him in the photos and video. He told authorities that he had wanted "to be where the action was" when walking into the U.S. Capitol building through a broken window after President Donald Trump's rally, according to court records. Schwartzberg showed the authorities photos and videos he'd taken that day, including a video that got his account suspended on TikTok captioned "It was intense inside congress today." There were so many photos and videos that Schwartzberg couldn't fit them into an email when asked to share them with the FBI, the papers say. He eventually declined to send anymore videos from the riot to law enforcement, saying he didn't want to incriminate people doing "stupid things" he'd caught on camera, according to the court papers. Schwartzberg is far from the first person who participated in the Capitol riots found through online tipsters. The FBI has set up a specific tip line for those who might be able to help them identify people from the demonstration. Another Brooklyn man who attended the riots was found with the help of a viral meme. At least five people died during the Jan. 6 riot as the pro-Trump mob overran barricades, assaulted police officers and breached the building, sending lawmakers into hiding over fear of more violence. knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, impeding government business or official functions, according to the documents. He was released after an initial court appearance Tuesday on a personal recognizance bond.