Smile, you’re on an FBI tip list! US Capitol rioters couldn’t resist taking selfies
At the request of the agents, according to the charging documents, Lyons turned over images and video that included “Podium Guy,” according to the Tribune. Better known as Adam Johnson, 36, the Florida man can be seen in a widely distributed news photo apparently carrying off the House speaker’s lectern.
Some stories from the photo-assisted roundup reveal a narrative that sounds like a rough poetic justice. For example, there’s the retired Air Force veteran, wearing a green helmet and carrying a bunch of plastic zip-tie handcuffs in the hallowed halls of Congress. He was identified, the FBI says, through a tip from his ex-wife. Possible lesson: It pays to be nice to your ex.
Other videos could have implications for politicians, such as Sen. Ted Cruz who wasn’t even there. For months the Texas Republican has been pushing some of Trump’s election fraud lies that helped fuel the resentments that led to the riot.
In a video newly released by the New Yorker, the former and possibly future presidential candidate’s name is dropped by one small squad of rioters in a way that is not likely to help his political hopes.
“He’s with us,” one of the group says of Cruz as they rummage through papers found on lawmakers’ desks, apparently searching for evidence to back up somebody’s conspiracy theory. “I think Cruz would want us to do this,” says one of the men, “so I think we’re good.”
No, not good, says the FBI, among others. In the aftermath of the riot, Cruz’s communications director resigned, Democrats discussed censuring him and Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, suggested that he should be added to the no-fly list.
Of course, we shouldn’t rush to judgment based on something uttered by a lawbreaker who, like the other rioters, doesn’t want to accept the election results.
A new Harris Poll found widespread concern among Americans about government tracking of their whereabouts through their smartphones and other digital devices. An overwhelming majority say that a warrant should be required to obtain such data.
But in this age, when there is a camera in nearly everybody’s pocket, that genie is hard to put back in its bottle. Either way, it’s prudent to remember the old saying: “Character is what you do when nobody’s watching.” These days, it’s more likely than ever that somebody is.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
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