An online troll lied about watching his best friend die at the hands of a Berkeley, Mo., cop. just to boost his clout.
Twitter user @DesJuanTheThug tricked his way into news reports by the Huffington Post after claiming he witnessed the shooting of Antonio Martin late Tuesday night at a gas station.
The stunt garnered the attention of upset Internet users fooled by his deceit and even the shady group known as Anonymous, which teamed up to out the Twitter users identity and address.
Just minutes after 18-year-old Martin had been shot, the anonymous teen wrote: I cant believe my best friend just died in front of me.
The teen also goes by the moniker "Jesus Christo," but it's not clear if that's his real name.
Martin was killed just after 11:15 p.m. Tuesday for allegedly pointing a handgun at a Berkeley police officer at a Mobil gas station who was investigating a theft. The 34-year-old officer fired three shots at Martin fearing for his life as the teen raised the weapon, according to a statement released by St. Louis County Police.
As gunfire broke out, a second man seen with Martin at the gas station fled the scene.
The man claiming to be an 18-year-old witness sparked an overnight ruse with reporters and alleged he witnessed Martins death.
He said the unidentified officer shot Martin when both he and the suspect were ordered to the ground at gunpoint. The officer opened fire and killed Martin when he refused, Christo claimed.
Christos sad story quickly dissolved after he refused to speak to Huffington Post over the phone and began sharing sexually inappropriate tweets in what would have been a time of mourning.
He also plugged his Soundcloud and later SnapChat, but did not link to any known account for Soundcloud.
He owned up to his false account early Wednesday morning and told HuffPo to do a better job of finding credible sources.
Several of his tweets detailing his fake account of the shooting have since been deleted, but the initial post that started the fiasco has been shared more than 2,000 times.
The story published by Huffington Post now features a correction that states Christo was never at the gas station.
Two witnesses have provided statements to investigators on Martins shooting.
The shooting also led to a demostration with about 300 protesters, some of whom threw bricks and set off fireworks, at the gas station.
nhensley@nydailynews.com
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/teen-lied-witnessing-shooting-death-antonio-martin-article-1.2055873
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