Internet vigilantes on Twitter falsely linked an ex-police officer for attacking teen protesters who were putting up signs to commemorate George Floyd's death His family reportedly received scary emails from strangers.
According to ABC News's latest report, the nightmare of John Damskey and his wife started when they received emails from strangers saying that his partner should be ashamed of her retired police husband.
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Their phones wouldn't stop receiving unknown calls from unfamiliar numbers and some even called his 74-year-old mother. Damskey plugged his name into the internet after being baffled by the barrage of hate on Thursday, June 4, leading to a horrifying discovery: He was falsely accused by mobs of Twitter users of being the cyclist on a Maryland trail who assaulted three young adults who were posting flyers to protest the death of George Floyd.
They were putting up signs to commemorate the death of George Floyd. He wasn't having it. pic.twitter.com/eukrXrxoLN — Victor Stoddard (@VicStoddard) June 4, 2020
The internet attack was caused by a video of the encounter on the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda, a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. Millions of users viewed the video including Damskey, who knew he did nothing to provoke the death threats and angry messages directed at him.
Twitter vigilantes falsely accuse retired police officer of attacking teen protesters
According to ABC News, John Damskey was one of at least two men who were falsely linked to the teen protesters attack, with internet vigilantes posting their personal information and photos on Twitter before another man, 60-year-old Anthony Brennan III, was arrested and charged by the police on Friday, June 5.
John Damskey served as a police officer of Montgomery County for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2016. He said that the experience they received got from the Twitter mob was terrifying and surreal.
"I've got a wife who is in tears. My mom is scared to death," said Damksey on Monday, June 8, in his first interview about his ordeal, on Associated Press. "It's sad. It's scary. It's something that I don't ever want to go through again."
Hundreds of tips from the public were reportedly received by the Maryland-National Capital Park Police before detectives arrested Brennan, charging him with three counts of second-degree assault.
The three teenagers, who ranged from 18 to 19 years old, stated that they were posting flyers promoting justice for George Floyd before a man attacked them. After the arrest, the company where Brennan was working, confirmed in a Twitter post that a man engaged in wrongful, disturbing, and completely unacceptable behavior directed towards peaceful protesters was fired from his position.
