I wonder if these same techniques will be used to track down all the rioters and looters from this past summer. Or is it just used against particular groups?
That’s some next-level reality distortion to frame this as “against particular groups.” Unless you define the “particular group” as people that directly attack the heart of the government.
The actually violent leftie anarchists knew all this stuff ahead of time and didn't leave digital trails. Their whole gig was opposition to the police, which means they knew what they were facing and how the system worked.
What's notable about the capitol mob is the fact that, while yeah, they knew they were attacking congress technically, they figured that doing it in service to a sitting president made it legal somehow.
Needless to say, one of those motivations is a lot scarier than the other.
Literally thousands of protestors were arrested over the summer, violent and nonviolent alike. Hundreds had the shit kicked out of them by police and have no recourse, please take a few hours and watch some of the videos. It seems heavy handed policing, brutality and large numbers of arrests are certainly happening to only one group, just not the way you are implying.
I've never been in law enforcement, but I think as in any other resource-constrained endeavour, effort and resources have to be prioritized after triaging tasks. I'm guessing in this case, it would be by the severity of the alleged crime). Also, it has become apparent to everyone - not all "protests" are equal, hence not all responses will be similar.