Massive misinformation about identity of suspect in Bethesda trail assault spreads online
Social media identifies wrong person as trail assault suspect
The investigation into the case of an assault on the Capital Crescent Trail in Montgomery County continued as of late Friday. But an even bigger story involves the world of social media playing a part in what seems like misidentifying who may have been the suspect in the case.
BETHESDA, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - The investigation into the case of an assault on the Capital Crescent Trail in Montgomery County continued as of late Friday.
But an even bigger story involves the world of social media playing a part in what seems like misidentifying who may have been the suspect in the case.
RELATED: Police searching for man accused of assaulting 3 people posting racial injustice posters in Maryland
Video of the assault has not only taken social media by storm but it has also given online users a chance to “play detective” trying to identify the cyclist.
Comments such as, ‘Bingo!’ or ‘They found him’ or ‘Let’s make him infamous’ are just a few of the many captions FOX 5’s Ayesha Khan and Photojournalist Doug Wilkes sifted through on Twitter and Facebook Friday.
This comes after people on those social media platforms were trying to identify this cyclist.
The man is seen in the cellphone video captured by one of three teens he went after as they were trying to post flyers about the George Floyd case.
Many Twitter users believe they found that guy and outed what turned out to be a random name without any proof or evidence to back up the findings. Many even went on to say that he is the guy who ‘assaults children.’
Some people were convinced that the person they named was denying any involvement in the trail attack from Monday.
But that same individual came to his own rescue and posted a copy of the police report from the Maryland National Capital Park Police in which it states that he has been excluded as a suspect.
Shortly after that post, many other people began defending him as well saying r things like, ‘Don’t tar and feather people,’ or ‘Please stop posting names on twitter.’
FOX 5 spoke with the individual via phone and we were told that while he does not want to be identified, he is feeling the negative impact of being dragged into such a situation.
And this isn’t the only name out there. Another man’s name and picture are being tweeted and retweeted thousands of times including addresses.
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Many online users claimed he is a former Montgomery County Police officer. But the department was quick to respond and tweeted that those reports on social media are false.
FOX 5 has been working to establish contact with park police, inquiring about the online misidentification case and what they may know about the real suspect but they have not yet responded.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh tweeted that Park Police have a “strong suspect,” but did not go into any further details.