A white woman believed to have set fire to two cop cars during protests in Philadelphia has been arrested after investigators traced her shirt to an Etsy page, ultimately leading to the woman's social media accounts.
Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, 33, faces two counts of felony arson for her role in setting ablaze two Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) vehicles 'following peaceful protests' on May 30.
FBI agents used Instagram posts of the burned cars, along with 500 photos from various photographers, to identify the wording on the woman's shirt: 'KEEP THE IMMIGRANTS, DEPORT THE RACISTS,' the FBI agent explained in his affidavit, VICE reports.
Agents discovered that the shirt was custom made and sold on Etsy and found that a user - Xx Mv - had posted a review about purchasing the shirt. The URL belonging to the Etsy was 'alleycatlore.' The page listed Philadelphia as being where the user lived.
The FBI then Googled 'alleycatlore' and found a user named 'Lore-Elisabeth' on Poshmark. Agents then looked up 'Lore-Elisabeth Philadelphia' and found a LinkedIN page for a woman who works as a massage therapist for a company in the Philadelphia area.
Authorities then used videos from the company's Vimeo account to identify tattoos that matched Blumenthal to the woman at the protests.
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Authorities found a phone number on the website and then used it to identity the woman's address and DMV photo.
Blumenthal"s Message Page With Tattoo That Identified Her
While this occurred, Etsy provided purchasing records - following a subpoena - and confirmed that Xx Mv purchased a shirt. The subpoena also revealed that the items were sent to a Lore Elisabeth in Philadelphia.
Paul Hetznecker, the woman's lawyer, expressed concern about prosecutors charging her in a federal court, instead of leaving local authorities to deal with the case.
'The techniques utilized by the FBI are gonna be scrutinized during the course of my pre-trial investigation of this case,' he said.
Black Lives Matter protesters and other demonstrators had convened in the city to protest the killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor while decrying police brutality and racism in the United States on May 30 when the arson occured.
Photos and videos taken at the scene show a woman using a burning piece of wood from a police barricade and throwing it on the rear window of a PPD sedan that was already on fire.
The woman then takes the burning wood and then uses it on an PPD SUV that was not on fire.
'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 eighty years in prison if convicted, followed by three years of supervised release. She faces a fine of up to $500,000.
The release notes that civil unrest followed the peaceful protest and resulted in 'widespread looting, burglary, arson, destruction of property, and other violent acts.'
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