Online sleuths identified a Proud Boy at the Capitol riot by matching his face to an old photo of him modeling underwear, report says
US District Court for the District of Columbia
- Online sleuths identified a Capitol rioter they dubbed "RayBanTerrorist," per HuffPost.
- The facial recognition hit led them to old modeling photos of Alan Fischer, 28, from Florida.
- Fischer was arrested and charged with assaulting federal police officers, among other offenses.
A 28-year-old man who is accused of involvement in the January 6 insurrection with the Proud Boys was identified by social media detectives thanks, in part, to a photo of him modeling underwear on a catwalk, according to HuffPost.
Alan Fischer III, also known as AJ Fischer, was arrested in Florida on Friday.
He is charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding an officer, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and civil disorder, among other offenses, court records show.
According to his arrest warrant affidavit, Fischer was seen in footage marching with the Proud Boys on January 6, 2021. Screenshots of videos included show him throwing traffic cones, chairs, and a pole towards a line of police.
—#SeditionHunters (@SeditionHunters) May 20, 2021
Social media detectives dubbed the man in the photos as the "RayBanTerrorist," due to the sunglasses he was wearing and set about trying to identify him by name.
According to HuffPost, Fischer was no. 222 on the FBI's list of individuals most wanted in connection with the Capitol riot.
Fischer had deleted much of his social media, the media outlet said. The online sleuths used facial recognition software to match an image of the so-called "RayBanTerrorist" to an Instagram post of Fischer featured in a local Tampa Bay newspaper.
From there, they found more photos of Fischer, across different social media platforms, from during his days working as a model.
One image shows Fischer, who has distinctive tattoos on his arm, on a catwalk modeling black underwear with a gold pouch.
—#SeditionHunters (@SeditionHunters) January 14, 2022
Fischer's arms were covered in photos from the Capitol, but HuffPost reported that his tattoos were identifiable in a photo of him with a group of Proud Boys from December 2020.
It is not known whether the work of the civilian investigators led directly to Fischer's arrest but, according to court documents, a witness at the Proud Boys' Florida events also helped identify him to them.
Investigators were then able to link Fischer to a flight from Tampa to DC on January 4 by using a phone number believed to belong to a current or former girlfriend.
Frank W. McDermott, Fischer's attorney, told Insider he was unable to comment on the case.