Trolls Wrongly Accused Retired Firefighter Of Capitol Riot Murder
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
CHICAGO — David Quintavalle didn't do it.
© Photo provided by David Quintavalle Retired Chicago firefighter says Twitter trolls have wrongly accused him of being a "terrorist" who killed a police officer with a fire extinguisher during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The retired Chicago firefighter from Mount Greenwood — whom social media trolls called a "terrorist" and accused of fatally wielding a fire extinguisher that killed a cop as a mob of Trump-supporting insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — was grocery shopping and celebrating his wife's birthday in Chicago, Patch has learned.
Twitter exploded with unsubstantiated claims Tuesday that Quintavalle — who retired from the fire department in 2016 after 32 years — was the bearded "#extinguisherman" in a surveillance video wearing a "CFD" stocking cap wanted for questioning and "soon to be arrested" by the FBI regarding the fatal beating of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.
This is the individual the FBI is seeking as a person of interest in connection with the murder of the Capitol Hill police officer. Twitter, do your thing. pic.twitter.com/KUKliu9zhp
— Political Southpaw (@DahlELama2) January 11, 2021
Quintavalle, who shaved his beard before Christmas, told Patch that he wasn't in Washington D.C. last week. He went grocery shopping at Aldi at 9 a.m. and made a home-cooked supper of filet mignon and lobster to celebrate his wife's birthday with their Chicago police officer son on the day rioters breached the Capitol.
The next morning, Quintavalle made a trip to Home Depot. A self-proclaimed paperwork hoarder, Quintavalle says he has receipts to prove his whereabouts that his attorney presented with other evidence to the FBI on Wednesday to clear his name.
Quintavalle, who doesn't have social media accounts, learned that he had been accused of being a cop-killing terrorist from a Twitter-savvy pal.
"I got a phone call from a friend who said, 'You should see what they twittered about you,'" Quintavalle said.
"Some woman from British Columbia showed the [surveillance] picture of the guy wearing CFD stocking cap and a beard like I've had, and file footage when I was protesting the city inappropriately scoring the fire lieutenants exam, and said, 'This is the guy.' And the ball started rolling. Everybody started saying, 'Here's the guy.'"
This is the individual the FBI is seeking as a person of interest in connection with the murder of the Capitol Hill police officer. Twitter, do your thing. pic.twitter.com/KUKliu9zhp
— Political Southpaw (@DahlELama2) January 11, 2021
The unconfirmed reports quickly spread. Soon, social media filled with details about Quintavalle's personal life, including his appearance at a "Walk To Support CPD" rally in Mount Greenwood in August to support his namesake son, an Englewood District police officer who still lives at home.
And his son is a cop. If David Quintavalle is the guy - a retired fire fighter who threw a fire extinguisher at a cop - the irony would be just too much.
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) January 12, 2021
Unable to find Quintavalle's nonexistent social media feeds, someone dug up a 2017 post written by his estranged brother accusing the retired firefighter of being a "bum" who fraudulently acquired their mother's home.
By Tuesday night, Quintavalle began getting angry calls from people saying he's a "f------ murderer" who belongs in jail. TV news reporters had staked out his house. Chicago police dispatched a patrol car to keep watch overnight, as well, his lawyer said.
Some folks got ridiculed for tweeting that Quintavalle wasn't "the guy" and his facial features don't match those of the man wanted for questioning by the FBI. One post claimed that tweets disputing Quintavalle's involvement in the U.S. Capitol insurrection were pushed by trolling Twitter "bots with practically no followers coming out of the woodwork."
I am amazed at the number of bots with practically no followers coming out of the woodwork saying it's not David Quintavalle.
— GeezerWench #HappyNewYear (@RickieBansbach) January 12, 2021
"This story has f----- my life up," Quintavalle said.
Attorney John Nisivaco told Patch on Wednesday he's presented the FBI and U.S. Justice Department with evidence that Quintavalle isn't the person depicted in the video at the U.S. Capitol.
"I expect the federal government will soon shed light on this case of mistaken identity," Nisivaco said.
"Social media has killed David Quintavalle. This has been an absolute disaster to him personally and his family. There's a cop car outside his house. It's over a picture that kind of looks like him because people sitting behind a keyboard with no proof or evidence are throwing out these tweets, and they're wrong. Holy smokes, its eye-opening how terrifying social media can be when something like this happens."
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I don't know this guy but I probably know people who know him. I have a nephew who is a fireman and lives in that neighborhood. Mt Greenwood is a Chicago neighborhood a mile or two from my house.
This is the bad part of social media. People with way too much time on their hands went sleuthing and accused him based on , well, nothing, other than he vaguely resembled the real perp, who was from Pennsylvania and has been arrested. They knew the perp had a hat with CFD on the front and I guess assumed it meant Chicago Fire Department. The actual perp is a retired fireman from Chester, Pennsylvania.
David Quintavalle is looking for the proper people to sue for defamation.
Can you imagine if social media was around during the Atlanta Olympics when Jewell was accused? I've come to hate social media.
As have I. I am happy to say that this is the closest I get to social media. No facebook, no twitter, no instagram. None of that.
That is also why I find it so funny to watch people meltdown over asshole being banned from social media, they are acting like he has been thrown in prison or isn't the fucking president which comes with the world's largest microphone. I have zero social media and am doing just fine, my wife has dumped a lot of hers and has told me that she is actually happier now without it. We don't need to know about every brain fart someone has.
the innocent guy
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the guy who did it
While there are a a couple of vague similarities (one being that they are both men, and two being that they have both clearly partied hearty at some point in their lives), the differences far outweigh the similarities.
Social media is wonderful. I’m sure Twitter banned all those people calling him a murderer.
If all social media disappeared tomorrow I think that would be the best thing for everybody.
That is just awful!
"The horse is out of the barn now," Quintavalle said. "Everybody in the world thinks I'm a murderer and a terrorist."
Quintavalle's attorney said his priority is to clear his client's name. But at some point in the future, he is looking to file a defamation suit against whoever started the tweets.
This is why I ignore just about everything on social media posted by some random shithead living in whothefuckcares USA. I will wait for the DoJ to let me know who did what.