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NEW: The FBI arrested a Capitol rioter today who they acknowledged tracking down using facial recognition.
The feds say got a hit off of his girlfriend’s publicly available Instagram page.
More: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614
The feds say got a hit off of his girlfriend’s publicly available Instagram page.
More: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614
The feds say Stephen Chase Randolph (aka #GrayCarharttHat) was among the first to break the barriers at the Capitol. The FBI affidavit cites the work of @SeditionHunters directly. #SeditionHunters https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614
Then the feds used an “open source facial comparison tool, known to provide reliable results in the past.” They got a hit for “Individual-1” who "appeared to be the girlfriend of the SUBJECT.”
In one Instagram photo, he was wearing the same hat.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614
In one Instagram photo, he was wearing the same hat.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614
Next they go to the girlfriend’s public Facebook account, find a photograph of Stephen’s family members, then find Stephen’s Facebook page, and pull his driver’s license photo.
On March 3, they follow him to work. He’s wearing the same hat. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614?jt
So last week, the FBI goes undercover. They show up to Stephen Randolph’s workplace and chat him up. He tells them “shit went crazy” and he was “in it” and it “was fucking fun.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614
From affidavit: “RANDOLPH opined that the female police officer likely had a concussion because she was curled up in the fetal position after being pushed to the ground.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614
This is the most upfront acknowledgement we’ve seen in an FBI affidavit that a facial recognition hit led to a suspect (rather than helped confirm a suspected identity). https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-defendants_n_607f34c0e4b0df3610c17614?jt
Feds probably realized that “an image search” wasn’t gonna cut it. https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1377765160065073153
Much more on the role of facial recognition in the Capitol manhunt in this story with @JessReports: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-matthew-beddingfield_n_605cc93fc5b67ad3871dad4e
Would expect to hear more about this case (and many others!) in the coming weeks and months. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-matthew-beddingfield_n_605cc93fc5b67ad3871dad4e
Thread on another Capitol facial recognition ID here: https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1379501786873102338
Would not be surprised if we later learn this case was facial recognition. There’s a pretty big jump in the affidavit where suddenly they’re interviewing the guy’s neighbor without explaining why he’s a suspect. https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1382793808534986754
