Image via Twitter
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The Huffington Post Made a Big Mistake in Its St. Louis Shooting Coverage
December 24, 2014
"I should not be having this much fun right now."
After the fatal police shooting of another 18-year-old black man in a St. Louis suburb Tuesday night, news outlets scrambled to cover the story.
The Huffington Post landed a juicy source hours after the shooting: Antonio Martin's best friend, who witnessed the shooting firsthand.
Except the man turned out to be a fraud.
I can't believe my best friend just died in front of me #AntonioMartin
— Jesús Christo (@DesJuanTheThug) December 24, 2014
The source, going by DesJuanTheThug on Twitter, claimed to have witnessed the shooting, and was interviewed by the Huffington Post.
Image via @passantino
But two hours after tweeting that Martin was his "best friend" who "just died in front of me," DesJuanTheThug sent out a different message: "Tell The Huffington Post to do a better job of finding credible sources."
Tell The Huffington Post to do a better job of finding credible sources.
— Jesús Christo (@DesJuanTheThug) December 24, 2014
DesJuanTheThug was just "trolling."
Other journalists noted the duping, while outlets including Sky News and the International Business Times ran the false quotes.
Huff Post gets duped by Twitter user claiming to have witnessed loss of "best friend" #AntonioMartin pic.twitter.com/ZrCb56DmB0
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) December 24, 2014
Some on Twitter responded with outrage, attempting to reveal DesJuanTheThug's real identity and calling for him to face consequences for making a joke out of a person's death.
@DesJuanTheThug omg someone please take care of this piece of filth. Filth is cleaner than this piece of absolute waste of life
— [cries in coconut] (@Mr_Pablo_) December 24, 2014
Why you do that man, the whole of black twitter gon be on your ass now @DesJuanTheThug
— Black Messiah (@Faded_Soul) December 24, 2014
ALSO!!! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO REPORT @DesJuanTheThug TO SIU's DEAN OF STUDENTS!?! HER EMAIL Sermersh@siu.edu pic.twitter.com/YbbV7CU5Jo
— sin - kah - me (@SynKami) December 24, 2014
For his part, DesJuanTheThug appeared to be using the shooting for social media gain, tweeting out links to his SoundCloud and Snapchat information and taunting those outraged by his actions.
Add me on soundcloud and listen to my mixtape.
— Jesús Christo (@DesJuanTheThug) December 24, 2014
Add me on snapchat desjuang
— Jesús Christo (@DesJuanTheThug) December 24, 2014
I should not be having this much fun right now
— Jesús Christo (@DesJuanTheThug) December 24, 2014
The Huffington Post added this correction to its story on Brown:
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story included an interview with a man claiming to have been at the scene of the shooting and friends with the deceased. As police have released statements saying the second person involved in the incident has fled the scene, the source is now suggesting he was never there.
—
Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter
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