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The Hidden Hand Of Facial Recognition In The Capitol Insurrection Manhunt
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facial-recognition-capitol-matthew-beddingfield_n_605cc93fc5b67ad3871dad4e?ojsAt 19, Matthew Jason Beddingfield was charged with first-degree attempted murder for allegedly shooting another teenager in the head in the parking lot of a North Carolina Walmart. Police said Beddingfield fled the scene in a Dodge Charger, but turned himself in the next morning, on Dec. 14, 2019. He was held in jail on $1 million bond, and was released a few weeks later when the bond was lowered to $100,000. He was still awaiting trial when the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States.
The shooting received heavy news coverage in North Carolina, and numerous mug shots and photos of Beddingfield appeared online. The defendant’s father, Jason Beddingfield, spoke to reporters and said his son had shot the 17-year-old because he’d been robbed.
Just over a year after Matthew Beddingfield was released from jail ahead of trial, a mob of insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol in support of outgoing President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Jason Beddingfield was there on Jan. 6. “We are here to take this country back from those commie bastards,” Beddingfield, 52, wrote in a Facebook post that featured photos of the crowd in front of the Washington Monument for Trump’s speech.
Jason Beddingfield admits he made his way to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Videos discovered by citizen sleuths and by HuffPost show a man who looks identical to Jason Beddingfield hopping over barriers while holding a Trump flag and storming past bike racks moments after members of the mob ripped them down. At the same time, approaching the Capitol via a different path, a young man holding an American flag led a crowd and shouted at the police. Soon the young man was brawling with cops at the front of the police line. He later entered the Capitol building, and emerged from the Senate side after being pepper-sprayed.
*snip*
