Facebook is furnishing the feds with data on users who took part in the siege, including their private messages, after calls from lawmakers to do so.
In a criminal complaint filed against New York resident Christopher M. Kelly on Wednesday, a search warrant on his Facebook account was revealed. After being tipped off about Facebook posts from an account belonging to Kelly containing images of him at the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the FBI sought his private messages, as well as his linked IP address, phone number and Gmail address.
Amongst the data provided by Facebook were private messages with other users. When one contact told him to stay safe and to be on the lookout for Antifa, a far-left organization, he responded: “I’ll be with ex-NYPD and some Proud Boys. This will be the most historic event of my life.” The Proud Boys is a far-right organization, members of which took part in the siege of the Capitol. From the messages, the FBI believes Kelly’s brother is a retired police officer and he’d planned to go to the Capitol with his sibling.
According to the complaint, in another chat, on January 9, Kelly posted a photograph that appeared to show him with his top off, brandishing an American flag in front of the Capitol, telling the recipient: “That’s me,” and, ”My brother took it.”
Comments are closed.