This morning Anonymous tweeted the name of the police officer they claim killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on Saturday, August 9. The name has not been confirmed by national media nor Ferguson police because of death threats that have been levied against the officer and his family. Ironic, no?
Last night, local alderman Antonio French, who has been covering the happenings in Ferguson since the beginning via Twitter and Vine videos, was arrested. He was with his wife Jasenka Benac French who tweeted the news as it happened.
She followed her husband, in the custody of the police, to the station where he was booked with “unlawful assembly,” according to USA Today. Anonymous, the online hacktivist group, learned of French’s arrest and delivered a warning to Ferguson’s police department.
Benac French learned that police were keeping her husband overnight despite protestors demanding his release outside of the precinct and then being told to leave by police.
Hours later, Anonymous published the name of the officer they claim is responsible for the death of Mike Brown. If Anonymous is incorrect, it wouldn’t be the first time that social media sleuths went after the wrong person; recall the case of the Boston bombings, where Reddit users pointed to the wrong suspect with grim consequences.
But if they’re right, it highlights the question that many have been asking, in the midst of looters and protestors being identified, why hold back on the name of the man responsible for all of this unrest? Stories of death threats while police are arresting people like French for “not listening” and reporters like the Washington Post‘s Wesley Lowery for having a camera in a McDonald’s or firing tear gas into people’s neighborhoods is not reason enough.
Ultimately, the response of police to peaceful protests in Ferguson shows the unnecessary militarization of America coupled with the result of more than a century of racism and it’s all bad.
Photo Credit: AP Images.