New York (Associated Press)-One of the iconic images of the siege of the Capitol is
. He is wearing black clothes and a helmet on his head. Even if he pauses to sit on the leather chair at the top of the Senate compound and raises his fist, he may still be illegible.
But Josiah Colt relaxed. Moments later, he posted a video on his Facebook page, boasting that he was the first person to reach the floor of the conference hall and sit in the chair of Nancy Pelosi (he was wrong). He described Pelosi in rude words and called her a "traitor".
Soon after, the 34-year-old from Boise, Idaho posted again. This time, he sounded more anxious. "I don't know what to do," Colt said in a video. He will delete it soon, but he won't delete it until he caches it online. "I'm in Washington, DC, and now I know everything."
In Washington last Wednesday, Colt was far from the only person to record the uprising. Many in
This is done by live broadcasting, posting on Facebook and taking selfies, and then turning the US legislature into a real-time theater, and it is often very ugly and violent far-right propaganda.
"This is a cycle of extremism. Those who are watching, commenting, encouraging, and sometimes offering some cash are supporting local people. He is supporting their fantasies." Oren, vice chairman of the Anti-Defamation League Extremism Center ·Siegel (Oren Segal) said.
Segal said: "Selfie culture has become part of the norm, so that when you commit a terrorist riot, it is almost second nature."
In summary, the scattered feed of Wednesday’s invasion formed a picture of a fictitious rebellion-full of the "I am here" ideological revolution's gesture to social media-and gave
. In hundreds of pictures, the fallacy of the far-right brand "patriotism" has been exposed.
The modern Capitol has previously been besieged only in Hollywood novels. Plunder aliens in "Mars Attack!" Entangling the ivy in "Logan's Run". It was blown through on "Independence Day." However, the image of the siege last week gave the impression that it was unremarkable and even chilling: right-wing extremist distorted cinema special effects, waving Confederate flags and white power gestures in the lobby of the Capitol.
Although many of the people who participated in Washington on Wednesday were Trump supporters and had no violent motives, the visual effects showed that even if it was not a total bloodshed, there were some who could clearly call chaos. The call to the Capitol attracted many extreme factions on the right-some of them helped lead the charge.
White nationalist Tim Gionet was called "Baked Alaska" on the Internet and participated in the "Right of Unity" rally in Charlottesville and took part from the Congress Office Live, and happily recorded the intrusion of more than 15,000 viewers on the live broadcast platform Dlive. On the surface, this service is designed for gamers and has developed into an attractive tool for white nationalists. Nick Fuentes, leader of the white supremacist "Groyper Army", flows from outside the Capitol to Dlive. He later tweeted that the siege was "awesome".
,Under certain circumstances
, Occupied the Capitol. However, the ubiquitous self-record of the rioters tells another story: the online alternative reality triggered by the QAnon conspiracy reached its peak on the ground.
And Trump's own remarks.
"In their view, they go unpunished. It is difficult for me to understand how these people believe this. At the same time, I can see that this is closely related to the Trump family." Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Research, the forthcoming publication of "Hate Empire Larry Rosenthal (Larry Rosenthal), author of: Populism's Poisonous Embrace of Nationalism.
He said of the people involved: "They will be prosecuted and they have already provided evidence."
Federal law enforcement officers
A rampant that caused five deaths, including
. They rely in part on the many social media clues left behind. "The goal here is to identify and find them," Ken Cole, the senior deputy federal prosecutor of Washington State, told reporters on Friday.
Among those arrested so far are
. Outside the Capitol, he proudly clutched the mail he said belonged to Pelosi. Barnett, 60, from Gravet, Arkansas, will face a year-long federal prison sentence on three counts including theft of public property.
, The newly elected Republican from West Virginia, who had posted a video clamoring at the door of the Capitol on social media. "We're here! Baby, make it move!" Evans yelled at the crowded Trump supporters' door. Inside the Capitol, he shouted: "Our house! Our home!"
Evans deleted the videos, but federal prosecutors said they found them on Reddit. If convicted, he will face up to 1 1/2 years in federal prison for two misdemeanors: entering a restricted area and disorderly conduct.
Others were fired for participating in the mob. Texas company Goosehead Insurance
After he posted an Instagram video, he complained about being tear gas when trying to break into the Capitol. Maryland
People seen in the Capitol. His identity has not been confirmed, but the photo shows an easily visible company badge on his neck.
Colt landed in the Senate. Despite the above remarks, the photos show that he was actually sitting in a chair reserved for Senate Chairman Mike Pence. Colt apologized for his outstanding role and begged for forgiveness. He said: "At the moment I thought I was doing it right."
The works of Jessie Daniels, professor of sociology at Hunter College, including "Internet Racism: White Sovereign Online and New Attacks on Civil Rights," he predicts that many images from the Capitol violations will be caused online The response became the propaganda of the extreme right. Woman who
Ashli Babbitt (Ashli Babbitt) will become a martyr.
Daniels said: "She will appear on all posters, trying to make people radical."
For those who have been tracking and studying how totalitarianism works online, the live broadcast of well-known activists like Gionette is particularly vivid. Gionet flowed down from the Capitol on Wednesday to interact with his followers. When the audience exceeded 10,000, he cheered: "Shout to Germany!"
Inside the Congressional Office, Gionet, who had been banned by Twitter and YouTube, filmed his analog phone call to the Senate. He said: "Yes, we need to let our boy Donald J. Trump take office." A user warned him not to leave fingerprints on his phone.
Gionet profited from his merits. Megan Squire, a professor of computer science at Elon University, studied Dlive, and he estimated that Gionet had donated $2,000 when he was in the Capitol.
Squier said: "He made a lot of money, said incredible racism, anti-Semitic and violent behavior." "They are very brand-conscious."
Intensified censorship of the roles of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter
In the days after the riots. For those tracking the extreme right edge, it is long overdue to estimate the role of social media in providing a platform for extremists. Before the siege of the Capitol, Squire had not discovered any mechanism for reporting suspicious content on Dlive. She said: "Their content modulation method basically does not exist, which is why these people like to be there."
On Saturday, after the pressure increased,
, Including those from Gionet and Fuentes, said they were “found inciting violence and illegal activities.”
Some people say that moving neo-fascists from one platform to another is an inevitable helpless catch-up game. Daniels disagreed.
Daniels said: "There is a lot of evidence that eliminates people who are harmful to these platforms is effective." "The objection of technicians is that this is a kind of mole rat. If they are not here, they will go elsewhere. Fine. Let's play with a punch. Let's start. Let's drive them out of every platform until they disappear."
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Follow AP film writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
