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Chapter 65<br />
ARRESTED<br />
3:15 p.m.<br />
One minute the library was silent; the next, an Asian woman yelled, “Fuck you!” at a man<br />
standing next to her.<br />
Everyone in the library looked up, startled by the outburst. The man who had just been told to go<br />
fuck himself raised his fist to seemingly punch the woman in the face. As his clenched hand went into<br />
the air, a startled Ross Ulbricht turned around in his chair to witness the commotion.<br />
And just in that moment, as Jared and Tarbell stood at the base of the stairs, the Asian woman<br />
with the fair complexion who had been seated at the table across from Ross reached over and gently<br />
slid his Samsung laptop away from him. Ross turned back, half comprehending what was going on as<br />
he tried to lunge for the laptop. Yet he couldn’t. Someone had grabbed his arms from behind.<br />
“FBI! FBI!” the couple who had just been yelling at each other now bellowed at Ross as they<br />
slammed him against the table. Brophy rushed over, slapping handcuffs around Ross’s wrists, and<br />
retrieved him. Thom, visibly shaken by the intensity of the moment, came to retrieve the laptop, which<br />
was still wide open and, thanks to Jared, also logged in to all three administrative areas of the Silk<br />
Road, including the “Mastermind” page, an area of the site that only the Dread Pirate Roberts and<br />
Ross Ulbricht could log in to.<br />
As Tarbell and Jared entered the second floor of the library, Brophy appeared, holding by the<br />
arm a young man who was now handcuffed and had a panicked look on his face.<br />
“This is going to be your new best friend,” Brophy said to Tarbell and Jared as he handed Ross<br />
Ulbricht over to them.<br />
Inside the library patrons started to yell at Brophy and the others. “What did that kid do?!” they<br />
hollered. “Leave him alone!” To them the young man now in handcuffs had been minding his own<br />
business, just using his laptop.<br />
Tarbell and Jared led Ross down the concrete steps, out into the street. Tarbell then turned Ross<br />
around, gently placed him up against a wall, and began patting him down. In Ross’s pockets there<br />
were only two $1 bills, some spare change, and a set of house keys.
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