Trump supporters send death threats to Instagram account naming and shaming Capitol rioters

An Instagram user helping to identify the rioters who stormed the US Capitol has received dozens of death threats from Trump supporters.

The anonymous individual, who runs the @homegrownterrorists and @outtheterrorists Instagram accounts, told Vice that they have received “a lot of really terrible DMs”.

“Like, ‘I'm going to kill you’. A lot of that.”

The user posts photos of the rioters to their accounts to crowdsource information about their identities. They then attempt to verify the tips they receive by enhancing blurred or pixelated images from the Capitol and comparing them to photos from social media in Photoshop.

The aim is that these people will then be arrested and tried for their crimes.

Since @homegrownterrorists’s inception shortly after the riot took place, it has garnered more than 300,000 followers and been shared by celebrities including Tyler Oakley and Meghan McCain.

But it has also been a target for right-wing trolls. Its owner told Vice:

“We would post a photo, like “do you know who this person is?”. And they were commenting things like, “Breonna Taylor”, “George Floyd”, “Anne Frank”. And you could tell that they were probably bots, accounts with zero followers.”

They added that they’re worried someone will uncover their identity.

“I mean, they broke into the Capitol building. If they wanted to, I’m sure that they could break into where I live.”

Concerned for their safety, the user has kept their identity secret from friends and family and says they sometimes have difficulty sleeping at night. They even temporarily deleted the first account they made over security fears, hence the creation of @outtheterrorists as a back-up.

‘Dozens’ of people have been arrested in connection to the riot so far, including Richard Barnett who sat at Nancy Pelosi’s desk, Adam Johnson who stole a lectern and Jake Angeli who was photographed wearing animal horns and fur.

Police and the FBI have appealed for further information about the rioters from the public.