A liberal woman has told of how she disguised herself as a MAGA supporter on dating app Bumble to reel in a suspected Capitol rioter.
The woman, named only as Claire, says she reinstalled the app after a lengthy hiatus on realizing she could help the FBI to catch the troublemakers.
She told Huffington Post how she deleted a photo of herself wearing a vagina hat at a feminist march, uploaded a generic looking shot of herself on a boat, and changed her political affiliation to 'conservative.'
Claire then managed to reel in Andrew Quentin Taake, 32, who sent her a photo of himself allegedly rioting, and is said to have bragged of being pepper sprayed during the violence at the Capitol.
Recalling what prompted the unusual sting operation, Claire said 'I was watching on the news and seeing everyone walk back.
'It felt kind of useless for me to be that close and not kind of do anything proactive about it.'
She said it was an appeal from then President-elect Biden to help catch rioters that spurred her on.
'OK, fine,' Claire thought. 'I will.'
She quickly took to Bumble, which allows female users to make the first move and initiate conversations, after spurning dating apps because of COVID-19.
Eventually, she matched with Taake, who's profile said he was just eight miles away in Alexandria, Virginia.
A Bumble match shared these screenshots with the FBI, showing him sending a selfie (right) from the Capitol riot and boasting that he had just been pepper sprayed
The FBI says that footage captured Taake wielding a whip during the riot and using it to attack Capitol police officers
A criminal complaint details the charges against Taake in connection with the riot
After exchanging enough initial pleasantries for Taake to let his guard down, despite what 'Claire' deemed 'comically minimal ego-stroking,' she began probing him and for information upon learning he was at the nation's Capitol.
'Were you near all the action?' she asked.
'Yes,' he responded, while adding he was there to prevent 'agitators' and people who 'were clearly antifa.'
'From the very beginning.' Many rioters claim Antifa - a far left group known for its violent behavior - were actually behind the riot, and disguised themselves as Trump fans to cause trouble, although there is no evidence that this happened.
'Claire' even managed to get Taake to send a picture of himself amidst the rioters right before he was 'pepper sprayed' by a police officer, he told her.
He is also said to have hinted of his desire to cause further trouble ahead of the Biden inauguration, saying: 'There is too much criminal stuff to come out. There are many many willing Patriots ready and willing to head back (to DC) depending on what happens.'
Once she felt confident she was communicating with a Capitol rioter, she culled his Bumble profile for any identifying information, where she discovered the name of the business he co-owns and eventually his Facebook profile.
She took Taake's name and profiles, along with three other MAGA Capitol rioters who she had communicated with, and passed them along to the FBI.
'I basically just asked, ‘Wow, crazy, tell me more’ on repeat until they gave me enough,' she told HuffPost. 'One of my friends was like, ’You basically got all these confessions just being, like, ‘Haha! Then what?’'
Three months
