A New York man trying to find love on the popular dating app Bumble made a big mistake when trying to impress one of his matches.

Robert Chapman offered to discuss his involvement in the storming of the U.S. Capitol with a recent match on Bumble, bragging to her that he “did storm the Capitol” and that he “made it all the way to Statuary Hall.”

The woman he sent the messages to then took screenshots and reported Chapman to the FBI.

Chapman has been on the FBI’s radar since a week after the Jan. 6 Capital insurrection. He had a court date via Zoom on April 22 and was released on bail. He faces charges of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Chapman is not allowed to travel to Washington, D.C. except for in exception of legal proceedings, and his pre-trial hearing is scheduled to take place virtually on May 19.

Not only did authorities have the Bumble messages as proof, but they also had Facebook photos depicting a man similar to Chapman’s appearance. The photo, posted on January 7, shows a man matching Chapman’s appearance who is also wearing the same clothing as a man seen on the police bodycam footage. The caption reads: “My Dear friend and Brostar Robert made it in the Capitol building at the protest yesterday… Wooo Hooooooooo!!!!”

Chapman is one of many rioters who have been found out through social media, dating apps, in particular. Bumble, Tinder and Match have started to use the images circulated on other social media platforms to identify and block suspects’ accounts, as well as users themselves trying to entrap people who said they participated and report them to the authorities.

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Alexandra Elliott

Article by Alexandra Elliott

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