Social media posts used to track down, link U.S. Capitol riot suspects caught in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, TENN. -- The FBI arrested a third person in Middle Tennessee after the U.S. Capitol riot this weekend, and the fifth Tennessean overall.
Two of the Nashville arrests come from the same tip and social media posts outing their identities.
A tipster told the FBI about West Tennessean Matthew Bledsoe’s online photos and videos of the Capitol raid, according to the FBI.
The FBI arrested Bledsoe in Memphis. The FBI said they identified Jack Griffith and Blake Reed, both arrested in the Middle Tennessee.
Griffith, 25, is also known as Juan Bibiano. The FBI arrested him in Gallatin Saturday. Bledoe’s video shows Griffith in the moments before they entered the Capitol, FBI documents show.
The FBI said an informant told the FBI Griffth went by Bibiano on Facebook. On that account, the FBI said it found photos showing Griffith “in what appears to be the Crypt raising his closed fist into the air.”
The FBI said Reed was also seen in Bledsoe’s photos, seen wearing a gray respirator with purple and yellow tape bands around the filter cartridges.
According to the FBI, the tipster also provided a screenshot of Reed’s Facebook account, showing a series of photographs leading up to the breach of the Capitol, including Reed wearing the same gas mask.
The screenshot also includes the words, “We The People have spoken and we are pissed! No Antifa, no BLMWe The People took the Capitol!”
Reed was arrested Sunday morning in south Nashville.
A neighbor said she was shocked.
“I heard an extremely loud bang,” Camee Mackie said. “Loud enough to know something was up.”
She said she saw the FBI bringing in file boxes to collect evidence.
A third Nashville arrest from over the weekend: Lisa Eisenhart is originally from Georgia. She is the mother of “Zip Tie Guy,” Eric Munchel, who was seen in viral photos, according to the FBI.
According to FBI documents, both Munchel and Eisenhart are seen holding flex cuffs as they chase police officers through the capitol.
64 people are facing federal charges, up 10 from Saturday. About 100 people have been arrested.
Both Eisenhart and Griffith are expected to be in federal court this week.
Nashville’s David Raybin, Criminal Defense Attorney, tells FOX 17 News more charges could be forthcoming.
“Let me emphasize that the government is not restricted to just the charges that are on paper today," Raybin said. "They can go to the grand jury and get more charges later if they wish. The government is absolutely going to take this very seriously and prosecute these people. I don’t see any pardons coming out tomorrow for any of them.”
