'This story has f*cked my life up': Let's hear it for the Twitter detectives who ID'd retired Chicago firefighter as rioter involved in Brian Sicknick's murder

Earlier this week, Capitol Police shared a photo of a rioter wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of Officer Brian Sicknick:

Capitol Police shared a photo of the man wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick https://t.co/SF5p7Nx9Qh

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 12, 2021

With his face out there, intrepid detectives got right to work.

Be aware- An incorrect name is floating on Twitter re the suspect wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of Brian Sicknick. I have also confirmed he is NOT an active or retired member of the Chicago Fire Dept, as some on Twitter have claimed.

— Sarah N. Lynch (@SarahNLynch) January 12, 2021

But, but … if we’ve learned one lesson in the Age of Social Media, it’s that Twitter detectives never, ever get it wrong!

https://twitter.com/DahlELama2/status/1348749131779629058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1348749131779629058%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpatch.com%2Fillinois%2Fchicago%2Ftrolls-wrongly-accused-retired-firefighter-capitol-riot-murder

Twitter did its thing, all right:

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.

“[Attorney John 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, it’s eye-opening how terrifying social media can be when something like this happens.”

If only Twitter could do something to prevent stuff like this from happening.

Google, Amazon, and Apple have sent warnings to Twitter over this incitement to haaaa just kidding of course they didn't. https://t.co/Y2WTYbyWpt

— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) January 14, 2021

If Twitter was actually interested in "trust and safety" they'd also ban every last one of the hundreds of accounts who amplified this complete bullshit.https://t.co/kz8Of36qYc

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) January 14, 2021

Sorry, they’re too busy looking for QAnon supporters.

dOxXiNg iS gOoD bEcAuSe SoMeTiMeS wE cAtCh ThE RiGhT pErSoN

— Noam Blum (@neontaster) January 14, 2021

It's almost like posting pictures of people on the internet and saying stuff like "twitter, do your thing" is an evil thing to do https://t.co/TZMrsIbDss

— Anders Hagstrom (@Hagstrom_Anders) January 14, 2021

Almost!

Meanwhile:

Robert Sanford of Chester, PA arrested for allegedly being #ExtinguisherMan

via @WSJ https://t.co/eZNHYaEdhj

cc @jsrailton @bellingcat pic.twitter.com/V1k1vAGmhf

— Manik (@ManikRathee) January 14, 2021

Remember, kids: