Prominent social activist Shaun King has threatened to indiscriminately publish the names of police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin if the city refuses to identify the cop who shot a black man, Jacob Blake.
Twitter users expressed disgust and reported King for harassment after the prominent Black Lives Matter advocate said he would begin targeting members of the Kenosha police force, regardless of whether they were involved in Sunday’s shooting.
“If you do not name the officer who brutally shot Jacob Blake on Sunday, we will simply begin naming officers from your department who may or may not be him,” King tweeted on Wednesday, claiming that it was “unethical” to withhold the cop’s name from the public.
In a series of follow-up messages, the activist began posting photographs and even names of several Kenosha officers, purportedly in an effort to determine who was responsible for opening fire on the 29-year-old African-American.
His unapologetic threat sparked scorn on social media, with some Twitter users saying that they had reported King for violating the platform’s Terms of Service agreement.
One commenter accused the social justice guru of “cowardly race-war profiteering,” arguing that his tweets could result in innocent people being hurt or even killed.
This is how you get people killed fyi. You start sending misguided vigilantes from a cult into a war with armed police officers… @shaunking you’re going to have blood on your hands, and for what? More cowardly race-war profiteering from the safety of your keyboard? https://t.co/0mcSBbrjs6
King has a poor track record when it comes to identifying alleged culprits. Last year, King posted the photograph of a man on Twitter, listing him as a possible suspect in the murder of a seven-year-old girl. The man was never charged with the killing, but he allegedly commited suicide months later.
In a similar incident from May, King claimed to know the location of two suspects in the killing of a Georgia man, Ahmaud Arbery, threatening that “about 150 people” were ready to kill them if he chose to publicize their address. The post containing his warning appeared on Facebook, but was later taken down.
The activist made headlines after seemingly endorsing the rioting and arson that erupted in Kenosha after a video of Blake getting shot went viral.
“I’m not going to call for peace. We’ve tried peace,” he wrote, adding that he wanted “a complete dismantling of American policing.”
Blake, who has a criminal history including domestic violence, as well as an outstanding warrant, was shot seven times by police. Though the exact circumstances of the incident are under investigation, many have speculated that he was trying to resist arrest. His family has demanded that the Kenosha police department fire the officers involved in Sunday’s incident, and arrest the one who fired the shots. Blake survived the shooting, but he has reportedly been partially paralyzed.
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