Social media is helping police make arrests related to the violence in Charlottesville
Social media is helping track down the white supremacists responsible for brutally assaulting a counterprotester in Charlottesville.
Per a New York Times report, Daniel P. Borden, one of the multiple assailants who attacked 20-year-old Deandre Harris during the infamous "Unite the Right" rally on August 12 has been arrested. Police have also issued a wanted poster for Alex Michael Ramos, another man sought in connection to the crime. Both have face charges of malicious wounding.
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As Harris' attorney S. Lee Merritt told the New York Times, the men responsible for his client's assault — video of which was disseminated across social media on and after August 12 — have been identified largely thanks to journalist and activist Shaun King of the New York Daily News.
Shortly after video of Harris' assault hit social media, King began sharing photos of the assailants in hopes that others on Twitter might have clues as to their identities. These posts helped identify Borden and Ramos, and King is still working to identify the other assailants, even vetting suspects personally before releasing names.
These photos could not be any clearer.
Share them widely.
Together we can find this man and make sure he's arrested for what he did. https://t.co/0ffWMyD34B— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 14, 2017
We must identify every man in this video who assaulted Deandre Harris.
We have two:
Michael Ramos (Trump Hat)
Dan Borden (White Hardhat) https://t.co/ehLyiLvKYK— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 15, 2017
In a tweet posted Sunday, King said police officials have told himself and Merritt that they are relying on the activist's Twitter account to identify the other assailants. In the days after the violence in Charlottesville, local police faced criticism for failing to stop violence at the hands of white supremacists.
Strange as it sounds, police have openly told @MeritLaw and I both that they are basically waiting on me to identify the remaining suspects. https://t.co/q3IvyP4dW4
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 27, 2017
Attorney Merritt heard police literally tell me that everything they knew about these men they got from my timeline. That's a mess. https://t.co/acjS3BKoj7
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 27, 2017
King isn't the only one who has leveraged his sizable social following to identify white supremacists the wake of the violent rally— Logan Smith of @YesYoureRacist also tweeted photos of rally protesters in hopes of learning their identities. He successfully identified Peter Cvjetanovic, a student; and Cole White, who lost his job at a hot dog joint shortly after.
If you recognize any of the Nazis marching in #Charlottesville, send me their names/profiles and I'll make them famous #GoodNightAltRight pic.twitter.com/2tA9xliFVU
— Yes, You're Racist (@YesYoureRacist) August 12, 2017
And as the New York Times reports, Richard W. Preston, a reported Ku Klux Klan member, was arrested after the ACLU of Virginia captured video of the man firing a gun in the direction of a counterprotester.