The United States Department of Justice on Tuesday revealed that it had discovered the identity of a suspected Capitol rioter who had seemingly evaded justice for nearly three years.
In a new criminal complaint, the government alleges that Paul Caloia, a resident of Roseville, Michigan, illegally entered the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021 and engaged in disorderly and disruptive conduct on restricted grounds.
While the charges against Caloia are not extraordinary, his case is unique in the way that the government went about identifying him.
According to the complaint, federal officials first received a tip about Caloia when an informant notified them that an "internet pornography personality" who called himself "God Hypnotic" boasted in an online video about storming the Capitol.
"Witness 1... stated that as God Hypnotic was bragging about his involvement in the January 6 riots, another individual in the chat asked God Hypnotic why he went to the Capitol," the complaint states. "At that point, Witness 1 said that God Hypnotic backtracked and said he went to the Capitol for reporting purposes."
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Law enforcement officials would subsequently obtain location data from Caloia's mobile phone number and determined that it was at the United States Capitol on January 6th between the hours of 1 p.m. E.T. and 6:30 p.m. E.T.
From there, they worked to identify Caloia as a frequently masked pro-Trump demonstrator who was wearing "a red Detroit Red Wings hat and a white mask that ties with strings around the back of his head" during the riots.
Surveillance footage from inside the Capitol also caught Caloia in some instances with his mask off, which helped confirm his identity.
