Robert Keith Packer Identified As Capitol Attacker Wearing ‘Camp Auschwitz’ Shirt
Robert Keith Packer has been identified as the man seen wearing a shirt with the words “Camp Auschwitz” during the attack on the U.S. Capitol this week, the latest among the group of Donald Trump’s supporters that stormed the building to be identified in the days that followed.
As CNN reported, the Virginia man was named as the person seen inside the building after supporters of Trump laid siege to the building following a rally outside the White House. At the event, Trump continued to make the unfounded allegation that the election had been stolen from him, imploring the people gathered there to travel to the U.S. Capitol, where Congress was tallying the Electoral College votes and finalizing Joe Biden’s victory. Many in the group surrounded the Capitol, breaking their way in through doors and windows in an attack that would lead to the deaths of six people.
The images of Packer wearing a shirt that appeared to praise the Holocaust drew particular attention, CNN noted. The group reportedly included a number of known white supremacists and other extremists, but Packer’s image drew viral attention and sparked efforts on social media to positively identify him.
“An image of Packer inside the Capitol, whose sweatshirt bore the name of the Nazi concentration camp where about 1.1 million people were killed during World War II, has evoked shock and disbelief on social media,” the report noted. “The bottom of his shirt stated, ‘Work brings freedom,’ which is the rough translation of the phrase ‘Arbeit?macht frei’ that was on the concentration camp’s gates.”
Many others captured in viral images have already been arrested for their role in the siege. Richard Barnett, who had been named as the man pictures sitting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and later showing off a piece of mail he claimed to have stolen, was also arrested in the week. As The Associated Press reported, he faces felony charges of knowingly entering or remaining in restricted grounds without authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and theft of public property or records. He could spend up to a year in federal prison if convicted.
The FBI has asked for help in identifying others seen entering the Capitol during the siege, and some have been fired after internet sleuths determined their identities and shared them online, ABC News noted.
CNN reported that Packer has a criminal history, including three convictions for driving under the influence and a felony conviction for forging public records.
