User:Wil1andar/sandbox/rkp

Robert Keith Packer was a participant in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. While participating in the riot, he wore a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt, was extensively photographed and videotaped and became a figure of public infamy.

Robert Keith Packer is from Newport News, Virginia, previously lived in Hampton, Virginia. He worked previously as a welder and pipe-fitter.

Notoriety and outrage
Images of his shirt went viral, and Images of the man were widely published by news organisations around the world, because of its antisemitism. It was "one of the most striking photographs." His noted shirt which makes an antisemitic mockery of the genocide, Referring to the Nazi death camp, during the Holocaust, where about at least 1.1 million people were killed during World War II. Just above a skull it read arbeit macht frei in English (rough translation). In addition, the back of his hoodie also had the word "Staff" emblazoned on it. It was: One of the most enduring images of the assault.

It had drawn widespread outrage. It "has evoked shock and disbelief on social media."

Vox stated: "If the hoodie was meant to shock (and it surely was), it was a success. Twitter users expressed disgust." One Twitter user commented, “A rioter today wore a hoodie that says Camp Auschwitz on it. When Jewish people tell you they fear for their life, start believing them." Another tweeted (showing an old photo): "I lost many members of my family in ‘that place’. I’d like to meet this man and tell him the story of my dad’s cousin Anselm - the youngest to be murdered there, aged just 6. He died holding his daddy’s hand in a Zyklon B shower. This was them in happier times."

One of his neighbors, reportedly said: “When you wear a T-shirt that glorifies the atrocities during WWII against the Jewish people and other people... It really hurts your heart.”

Context
This was highlighted also, as other bigoted incidents were recorded. Such as, two white nationalists famous for racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, have livestreamed to their online followers after the storming of the Capitol; a video circulating on social media showing a man harassing an Israeli journalist seeking to conduct a live report outside the building, and prominent Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis were part of the Capitol mob. Some participants wore shirts bearing an acronym on the far-right standing for “6 Million Wasn’t Enough," which is a reference to the number of Jewish people who were killed in the Holocaust. And the majority of FBI terrorist watch-listed individuals participants in Washington on January 6, 2021 "are suspected white supremacists."

Criminal history
Packer has a criminal history in Virginia, and has been arrested in Newport News "well over a dozen times," including three convictions for driving under influence and one severe conviction for falsifying public records. In 2016, he was booked in York County, Virginia for trespassing. That case was dismissed.

Description
He has been described as “always extreme and very vocal about his beliefs." And that he has an “off-beat” character, expressing frustrations with the government.

Arrest
Packer was arrested on January 13, 2021, at the age of 56, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Norfolk Joint Terrorism Task Force in Virginia on federal charges, for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The charges were: unlawfully entering a restricted area and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Reportedly, Packer was part of the group led toward senator Chuck Schumer’s office.

Factor of sweatshirt in arrest
The FBI affidavit made it clear that the Camp Auschwitz sweatshirt — and the hightened media attention surrounding it — played a role in it's investigation, leading agents to Packer.

Aftermath
At the aftermath, outlets, Etsy and TeeChip, banned shirts, similar Packer wore. First, Etsy took the step, and banning the seller permanently. Teespring has apologized the day after the riot.