Capitol riot: Man accused after Bumble dating app boast

  • Published
Related Topics
A photo allegedly showing Robert Chapman inside the US Capitol buildingImage source, FBI
Image caption,

Robert Chapman posted a picture of himself posing inside the Capitol, the FBI say

A man has been accused of taking part in the US Capitol riots after allegedly boasting about it on a dating app.

Robert Chapman, from New York, told a user he matched with on the dating app Bumble "I did storm the Capitol", FBI court filings say.

They replied "we are not a match", and shared a screenshot of the exchange with authorities.

Mr Chapman was arrested and charged in New York on Thursday, media reports say.

According to the court filings, external, Mr Chapman, from the town of Carmel in New York State, told his Bumble match: "I did storm the Capitol... I made it all the way into Statuary Hall!"

Image source, FBI
Image caption,

A Bumble user shared a screenshot of their alleged exchange with Mr Chapman to the authorities

The FBI says police body-camera footage captures Mr Chapman in the Statuary Hall during the 6 January riots at the Capitol building in Washington DC.

A post on Mr Chapman's public Facebook account, using the alias "Robert Erick", said he was leaving New York City the day before the riot, the FBI said.

The next day, the account posted a photo showing him posing within the Capitol, captioned "INSIDE THE CRAPITOL!!!".

Image source, FBI
Image caption,

Police body-camera footage allegedly captured Mr Chapman shooting a video in the Capitol

Mr Chapman was arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct on restricted government property, according to NBC New York, external.

He had previously been arrested in New York in 2017, according to New York State Police.

Media caption,

When a mob stormed the US capitol

The US justice department has charged more than 400 people with participation in the 6 January attack.

Federal prosecutors expect to charge at least 100 more people for taking part in the riots.