Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A suspect linked to the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol was caught this week after a match on the dating app Bumble turned him in to the FBI, according to a criminal complaint.
Context: An unnamed Bumble user asked Andrew Taake of Houston, Texas, in January whether he was “near all the action,” to which he said he had been pepper-sprayed by police after protesting the result of the 2020 presidential election.
- Screenshots of the pair's chat indicate that Taake said he was “peacefully standing there” at the Capitol.
- "About 30 minutes after being sprayed," he said of a selfie showing him wearing a gray beanie and a dark gaiter. "Safe to say, I was the very first person to be sprayed that day … all while just standing there."
- Three days after the insurrection, the match sent the conversation to officials, including screenshots of Taake’s location on Jan. 6 — shown as Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. — per the complaint.
- After the tip, officials reviewed flight records, security footage and social media posts. A federal agent said images show Taake “using what appears to be a metal whip and pepper spray to attack law enforcement officers.”
Driving the news: Taake has been charged with numerous federal crimes, including felony assault on a police officer, civil disorder and obstruction of congressional proceedings, per CNN.
The big picture: Taake is the second person to be turned in by a Bumble match in connection with the siege on the U.S. Capitol.
- New York resident Robert Chapman was arrested in April after someone he'd spoken to on Bumble tipped off law enforcement that he'd been involved in the Jan. 6 attack.