Black Lives Matter Activists Thought They Identified Cop Who Pepper Sprayed Protesters, but They Were Wrong

After a video surfaced of a Cleveland police officer pepper spraying protesters outside of a 'Black Lives Matter' conference, Twitter vigilantes decided they would find out just who that officer was.

Somehow, an activist identified Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Lieutenant Sean O'Neil in the video and outed him on Twitter. Unfortunately, there was just one problem — he's not the guy.

According to Mediaite, the misidentification of O'Neil spun out of control after it was discovered that he sued the department after it promoted a supposedly less-qualified African-American officer.

On his LinkedIn page, O'Neil squashed the claims that he was the officer in the video, claiming that he has been assigned to the night shift for the past few years.

"You can imagine my surprise when I started receiving calls for work about being targeted by Anonymous and that my name was being thrown all around the Twitterverse and other social media sites," he said in the statement. "With the help a good friend, I have been able to get word out regarding this case of mistaken identity, so while I had to disable my other social media accounts, things have begun to settle down and it would appear many have begun to realize the error of their ways."

Mediaite reported that while many have hastily deleted the erroneous tweets, some still remain.

@CLEpolice FIRE Sean O'Neil 4 attacking peaceful protesters! We WON'T STAND 4 ABUSE. WE WILL RETURN FORCE. #JusticeORElse #BlackLivesMatter

— #000000 (@nattyhead77) July 27, 2015

Sean O'Neil. Without that badge your a bitch and a half. https://t.co/2jI3GzvtA4

— Charlie (@STLeftist) July 27, 2015

@BYP_100 @MichaelAWoodJr @Kunle_x Sean O'Neil I wnt call him officer.he's not following the law.He looks like he's had a few swigs.

— Blinking Router (@SparrowOnTheEye) July 27, 2015

Officer Sean O'Neil macing ppl who were breaking no laws whatsoever,see as he mustbe very much in fear for his life https://t.co/m602w0SgIe

— B.L. McMillan (@PoliticalBee) July 27, 2015

@ShaunKing @JesseBenn @TyreeBP @GCRTA Please investigate & remove Lt. Sean O'neil before he really causes irreparable damage. DON'T LET HIM.

— L D (@RoguelovesyouRT) July 27, 2015

And this is Sean O'neil pepper-spraying a group of black people like he would, the bedbugs in his bed. It's shocking https://t.co/b7xY49b2lE

— W@njirũ™ (@TheWanjiru) July 27, 2015

Watch the cell phone footage of the incident below.