A woman who lit two police cars on fire during protests in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was tracked down by the FBI via a custom shirt she was wearing that was sold on Etsy.
Shirt Crucial To Tracking Down Arsonist
Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, 33, torched two Philadelphia PD cars during the Black Lives Matter riots in the city on May 30th. Blumenthal used a burning piece of wood taken from a police barricade to light the cars on fire.
While her face was covered with a bandana, she was wearing something that provided the FBI their first clue on how to track her – a custom t-shirt from Etsy that said “keep the immigrants, deport the racist.”
FBI investigators found that a user known as Xx Mv posted a review of the t-shirt on Etsy, noting how pleased she was with the fast shipping. The url of the profile was “alleycatlore,” which led the FBI further down the road. There were able then to track down a user known as “Lore-Elisabeth” on Postmark, a mobile fashion store. Further searches then revealed Blumenthal’s LinkedIn page, and from there it was easy.
Photos of Blumenthal on her employer’s website clearly show a tattoo that was also visible in instagram photos of the protests. After enough information was gathered, a subpoena sent by the FBI to the Etsy seller found that a Blumenthal did indeed receive the shirt from the site, at which point that was enough to arrest her.
US Attorney’s Office: Torching Police Cars A “Violent And Despicable Act”
“We at the U.S. Attorney’s Office fully support the First Amendment right of the people to assemble peaceably and to petition their government. But torching a police car has nothing to do with peaceful protest or any legitimate message. It is a violent and despicable act that will be prosecuted in this District to the fullest extent of the law,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain in a press release. “Anybody who engaged in such acts can stand by to put your hands behind your back and head to federal prison. We are coming for you.”
Blumenthal faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted, and a fine of up to $500,000.
FBI Doing Something Good For Once!
I find this whole case hilarious! Good on the FBI for doing something useful for once, and catching criminals, rather than spying on the President and his allies for no reason at all.
Vice, in their article, said that this showed the “dangers” of taking protest pictures, because they are, of course, sympathetic to these communist agitators. What it truly shows, is that if you’re out taking photos of rioters, do let the police know you have them!