The world was utterly shocked after thousands of Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on January 6th in what turned out to be an unprecedented act of "domestic terrorism." The rioters armed with “Make America Great Again” caps, military-style gear, flags, and, allegedly, zip-tie restraints breached barricades, smashed windows, and ransacked the Capitol building.
But now that the hunt to identify and arrest the rioters has begun, leading to some successful attempts already, the offenders don’t look so confident anymore. And people on the internet just couldn’t miss a chance to make fun of them.
The meme “How it started Vs. How it’s going” started circulating on social media, where people are sharing side-by-side images of Trump supporters during the Capitol ordeal versa their mugshots. “Where did his smile go?” someone rightly noted on Twitter, and you start wondering who's smiling now.
People are sharing side-by-side pics of the Capitol rioters for the "how it started vs. how it's going" meme
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The initial confidence has left the stage
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The smugness is visibly gone
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Bored Panda reached out to Philip Lewis, a senior front page editor at HuffPost who recently tweeted a “How it started vs. How it’s going" meme featuring a shot of a Parrish man carrying a lectern during riots at the US Capitol. The man was identified as 36-year-old Adam Johnson and has been arrested and booked into the Pinellas County Jail. Meanwhile, Philip’s tweet went viral with 834.1K likes and 106.5k retweets.
When asked to share his initial reaction on the day of the events, Philip said he was stunned but not surprised by what he was seeing. “The rioters were only doing what they said they would do on online forums and social media for weeks prior. This was the logical conclusion after Trump incited his supporters to ‘stop the steal.’”
“They went to the Capitol and literally stopped Congress from certifying Biden’s win, at least for a moment,” Philip said and added: “What started off as a meme about relationships quickly took on a different meaning after brands and politicians started using it.”
At this point, Philip sees the meme used primarily as a way to point out the scope of hypocrisy. If given a chance to say something to the rioters, Philip would say: “The president that you’re willing to ruin your lives for couldn’t care less about what happens to you.”
The 'cool guy' does not look that cool in a mugshot
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The horned man called 'QAnon Shaman' has also fallen to the hands of justice
The hunt to identify and arrest the rioters has brought some successful results
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The Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday to interrupt a session of Congress, leading to five fatalities, will not remain unpunished. According to the US attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, “hundreds of people may ultimately face charges” related to the riots.
The US Capitol Police is now having its staffers put in “24-hour shifts” to identify the suspects while browsing through evidence online and saving it before it can be deleted.
NPR reports that there’s likely to be “a wide array of criminal charges, ranging from destruction of federal property to murder.” The police is also expecting to find evidence of coordination among the rioters.
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Sherwin also told NPR that the police is now in search of the key hallmarks. “We saw in some of these individuals we identified—they look paramilitary almost, right? You've got the uniform, you've got communication, you have all the paraphernalia. Those show indications of affiliation and a command and control. So I believe we are going to find those hallmarks.”
Sherwin named the Capitol events “unprecedented.” “I don't think we've ever seen a 'crime scene' with such a diversity of charges, with such a large group of individuals on such a large grounds, in such egregious conduct,” he said.
Others pointed out that rioters employed a 'shave disguise' method, but it doesn't seem like it's been helpful
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Others expressed how much they enjoyed seeing the rioters getting captured
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Someone pointed out that simply putting on an obligatory face mask in times of pandemic would have helped not to be identified, but the rioters were too cool for that
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And this is what other commenters had to say
