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The woman behind Libs of TikTok revealed her face on Fox News, leading to video seeming to show her at the Capitol on January 6

Dec 28, 2022, 18:27 IST
Insider
A woman resembling Chaya Raichik, who runs the channel Libs of TikTok, at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.US Government
  • Chaya Raichik showed her face on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show on December 27.
  • A few hours later, several people said they found her in imagery from January 6 Capitol.
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Chaya Raichik, known for running the channel Libs of TikTok, appears to have been spotted in videos from the US Capitol on January 6 after giving her first on-camera interview.

Raichik appeared on December 27 to "Tucker Carlson Today," a show on the Fox News streaming service Fox Nation.

In the interview, she spoke about her channel, where she gathers content from other users, predominantly LGBTQ ones, to mock them. Though her page was banned from TikTok in March, she built up a following on Twitter of some 1.7 million people.

In the interview she alleged that the LGBTQ community is become a "cult" whose members "brainwash people."

The interview also showed people what Raichik looked like, leading to people matching her image to a woman at the US Capitol on January 6.

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Extremism and disinformation researcher Chad Loder gathered evidence and documented videos and images in their newsletter and said it had persuaded them that Raichik was there.

They noted screenshots of a Twitter account shaya_ray, which software developer Travis Brown identified in April to be associated with Raichik, appeared to show her describing heading to DC that day.

"I am taking off work to come support Trump," one now-deleted tweet said. "Every single supporter matters."

Loder also noted a distinctive ring on Raichik's right hand in the interview clip, which is also visible in a photo of a woman who looks a lot like Raichik from the Trump rally that preceded a group of protesters heading to the Capitol and starting to riot.

Raichik also seems to be visible, wearing the same MAGA hat, in a video posted on TikTok by a user named @huebs22c on January 8, 2021.

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Raichik's apparent face is most clear in GoPro footage released by federal prosecutors in the trial of Ronald Sandlin, a rioter who was sentenced to 63 months in prison.

Loder alleged based on evidence from the videos and others that Raichik had joined the crowds in a restricted area of the Capitol, which Loder said amounted to trespassing.

Loder noted that there was no evidence of Raichik doing any more than joining the crowds outside the Capitol.

The Department of Justice has generally only pursued people suspected of serious wrongdoing at the Capitol, like attacking police officers or otherwise causing damage to the building.

Insider contacted Raichik for comment.

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