(Getty)
Hacktivist group Anonymous claimed today in a series of brash tweets that Bryan P. Willman was the cop who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9.
As Anonymous threatened to release further info — including the officer’s address — if it didn’t get a response, the claim was refuted by the St. Louis County Police, who responded on Twitter:
@TheAnonMessage Bryan Willman is not even an officer with Ferguson or St. Louis County PD. Do not release more info on this random citizen.
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) August 14, 2014
@TheAnonMessage We will not provide the involved officer's name or any further information. It is an ongoing investigation.
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) August 14, 2014
Anonymous dismissed the response and, soon after the Twitter exchange with the cops, tweeted photos of a man they said was Bryan Willman.
Less than an hour later, the group’s Twitter account was suspended.
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson later told CNN that the name of the officer released by Anonymous was “incorrect.”
Authorities have withheld the officer’s identity while uprisings rage in Ferguson and heavily armed cops unleash tear gas on protesters.