When they spotted a familiar face at the Capitol riots, they reported it to authorities

Americans watched in horror. Then, colleagues, friends and family members began pointing out the faces of people they knew, had shared holidays with and, in the midst of a national security crisis, they began reporting them to federal officials.

After a public call for help, the FBI has now received more than 200,000 digital tips from the public, Steven D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington, DC, Field Office, said late January.

First responders describe chaos at US Capitol riot

“Some of you have recognized that this was such an egregious incident that you have turned in your own friends and family members,” D’Antuono said. “We know that those decisions are often painful — but you picked up the phone because it was the right thing to do.”

At least 150 people have been charged by federal prosecutors in connection with the insurrection. Court documents show at least two dozen of those cases involved tips to the FBI from familiar faces: former romantic partners, old classmates, social media followers, siblings, neighbors, some who said they had noticed a pattern of concerning behaviors before January 6.

While the tipsters’ motivations are unknown, Nathaniel Herr, an associate psychology professor at American University in Washington, DC, said it’s likely many felt obliged to do something after the authorities’ call for assistance.

“When the FBI is making a call, it feels like, ‘Here’s a legitimate place that I can finally report this thing that’s been bothering me for a long time,'” Herr told CNN. “I would bet, in many of the reporters’ experience, it was something that had been brewing for a while and now it was like, ‘OK, someone’s asking me for help.'”

‘Choose a side or die’

Among those who turned to authorities is 18-year-old Jackson Reffitt, who reported his own father. Guy Reffitt, of Texas, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and obstruction of justice. Investigators tracked his cell phone location and…

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When they spotted a familiar face at the Capitol riots, they reported it to authorities

‘Choose a side or die’

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