Old Acquaintances of U.S. Capitol Attackers are Narcing on Their Worst Facebook Friends
Love it. Too funny. People are happy to turn in racist trolls.
A top FBI official said this week that the U.S. was “grateful” for Americans who made the tough decision to turn in friends and family members who took part in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to keep then-President Donald Trump in power.
“Some of you have recognized that this was such an egregious incident that you’ve turned in your friends and family members,” Steven D’Antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “We know that these decisions are often painful, but you picked up the phone because it was the right thing to do.”
But others ― old acquaintances of the defendants who are only “friends” with them on social media ― are clearly relishing the moment.
In case after case that federal authorities have brought in connection with the insurrection, there has been a consistent theme. Old associates ― from high school or college or young adulthood ― have gone to the FBI with tips about the people they’ve been following for years on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
They watched their former associates get sucked into online conspiracy theories and a cultlike dedication to Trump. They read their bigoted posts about Black Lives Matter or their lie-filled screeds about a stolen election. They had their own comments trolled. And when their online nemeses finally crossed the line into outright criminal activity, they turned them in to the feds.
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6 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.How many of these fringe types are in fact people with mental health issues that are untreated, leaving them open to being duped and led down the tin foil hat rabbit holes that abound on social media? Not to say that there hasn't always been a dirty underbelly to society that is racist and hateful and extremist but are those people the majority or just the small core that feeds on the delusions and insecurities of the mentally ill.
I have a neighbour who is a Canadian QAnon supporter and often goes to anti-mask protests here in Canada, he's not a bad guy at heart but he does suffer from PTSD after a peacekeeping tour in Rwanda that really damaged his mental health. My younger brother has schizophrenia and he buys into the weirdest ideas as well. Both of their conditions go untreated and so they find themselves consorting with other crazy ass conspiracy theorists in some desperate attempt to make some kind of sense of their lives.
The people that wind up the mob and set them loose on the world to promote an agenda that enriches and empowers themselves. These are the people that don't seem to be held to account, they just fade away into the shadows or worse continue to hide in plain sight, like in the US Senate and the House of Representatives.
Surfpirate
Level 9
Jan 28, 2021
0
MizJ:
I have 2 longtime friends, one Canadian, one here that do NOT have mental illness and got sucked into those garbage beliefs. It's time we stopped demonizing and stigmatizing mental illness.
@MizJ
Exactly. People need to stop demonizing the mentally ill.
MizJ:
@LiterateHiker Every time there is a mass shooting or whatever the media blames mental illness. The mentally ill are far more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators.
@LiterateHiker People need to stop jumping to conclusions, I asked a question 'How Many?' but I did not suggest that everyone who jumped on that Trump Racist Bandwagon was mentally ill. Granted I personally think that there is something not quite right with anyone who subscribes to that agenda but it doesn't necessarily mean that they have a mental illness or PTSD. My neighbour with PTSD developed it while serving as a UN Medic during the Rwandan genocide, sorting through the piles of body parts of the victims who were hacked apart with machetes because bullets cost money. That's where this level of hate leads to.
It still leaves the question about why the one who incited the mob, who claimed that there were 'good people' on both sides, who helped plan the attack by giving recon tours to known white supremacists, etc. are not feeling the heat to the extent that they deserve to.
Acknowledging that people who are already facing the challenges that go with having a mental illness could get sucked in by these hate groups is not demonizing them but pointing out their vulnerability.
@MizJ Maybe your shoes are too tight, it tends to give people a piss poor attitude. Ask LiterateHiker if you don't believe me. lol
I find it a bit touchy to mix up political disagreements with mental illness.
MizJ:
@Surfpirate Wow!!!! And I was under the impression that Canadians were for the most part reasonably polite.
@MizJ Wow! I was under the impression that Floridians were all gun toting, loud talking, bat shit crazy people on bath salts, strange how these misconceptions occur.
MizJ:
@Surfpirate I am not a Floridian, I just live here
@MizJ This time of year that would apply to half the state.
I have a few of those "old acquaintances" and it has been discouraging to see them descend into insanity. But knowing them, it's consistent with their nature. I'm just surprised to see how many there are.
BitFlipper
Level 8
Jan 28, 2021
1
The People turning in their friends for the insurrection are the real patriots. Blind faith to a demagogue is what Republicans think makes you a patriot. When you stand up for what's right and you criticize your own country when it deserves to be criticized, then you are a real patriot.
dermot235
Level 7
Jan 28, 2021
4
I'm torn between happiness that dangerous people are being identified and hopefully removed -- and sadness/disappointment that it needs to be done in such a frankly pathetic way.
Our society has big rotten swathes.
These wannabe insurrectionists are destructive criminals who are at their core game players. They have never been part of any serious group capable of improving society in any way.
Far from being heroes, they're just disgusting.
RichCC
Level 8
Jan 28, 2021
2
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