US Senator urges tech giants to keep 'digital evidence' associated with Capitol attack

As US federal agents arrested more rioters involved in the shocking Capitol Hill siege, Senator Mark Warner who is also the incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged tech giants in a letter to preserve the digital content related to the riots. The chaos engulfed one of the most iconic buildings in the United States on the same day lawmakers convened to certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. In his letter, Warne stressed that the rioters took time to not only document the event but also share it across the social media websites with texts “to celebrate their disdain for our democratic process.”

In the letter addressed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Warner wanted the social media giant to ‘immediately preserve any and all posts’, communications and other media on all its entities associated with the US Capitol siege. He wrote, “I encourage you to undertake reasonable measures to identify this content in order to preserve it in connection with, or anticipation of, formal legal process requests you may receive”. Warner sent similar letters to eleven companies’ CEO including mobile carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon and technology companies Apple, Facebook, Gab, Google, Parler, Signal, Telegram, and Twitter.

"The U.S. Capitol is now a crime scene," wrote Warner in all his 11 letters. “The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are currently investigating the events of that day, and trying to piece together what happened and the perpetrators involved. The prospect of litigation on behalf of the victims of the mayhem also is highly likely."

"Messaging data to and from your subscribers that may have participated in, or assisted, those engaged in this insurrection – and associated subscriber information – are critical evidence in helping to bring these rioters to justice," he added.

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‘Be there, will be wild’: Donald Trump

Unrest prevailed inside Washington's US Capitol building in support of out-voted Donald Trump. Trump claimed that the UU presidential election was ‘stolen’ from the Republican leader by Joe Biden. Just a week before Christmas, Trump whose account has been suspended now on Twitter, had said, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th” and added, “Be there, will be wild!”. The ‘insurrectionist’ mob that showed up at the behest of the US President and stormed the building was made up of long-time Trump supporters reportedly including Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants among others.

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