Here's the Truth Behind the '13-Year-Old Boy' Killed by Police Tuesday
Cops are still facing fury over the shooting of a 13-year-old boy despite proof that the “child” was not only a 34-year-old man but was also armed and dangerous.
The reports of the shooting victim’s age first broke late Tuesday night amid the chaos in New York City.
WARNING: The following tweet and video contain graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
“A 13 year old ‘had a gun’ and the NYPD shot him 19 times but when a white man walks around in public with a huge a– gun they don’t do jack s—,” journalist David Leavitt wrote on Twitter.
It’s unclear how many people his false claim has reached, but a video accompanying his post has over 13 million views. Similar misleading posts remain up across social media.
A 13 year old “had a gun” and the NYPD shot him 19 times but when a white man walks around in public with a huge ass gun they don’t do jack shit.
NINETEEN TIMES!!!
And republicans still wonder why there’s protests in all 50 states.
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) June 3, 2020
For almost my entire life, I thought this is how everyone who had a gun was treated by Police.
It’s not.
This is the moment I think back to when I see what’s happening today.
When I see a 13 year old was killed tonight by NYPD because he had a gun.
I was 13. I had a gun.
— Robert Bowling (@fourzerotwo) June 3, 2020
The rumor spread as a multitude of accounts repeated the fake news.
Less than two hours after the shooting, police were already working to correct the fake news.
“This is inaccurate information,” New York City Police Department Chief Terence Monahan wrote in response to rumors on Twitter. “The armed man who was shot by police was 34-years-old and had just shot another man.”
This is inaccurate information. The armed man who was shot by police was 34-years-old and had just shot another man. pic.twitter.com/vL0gkKYhyo
— Chief Terence Monahan (@NYPDChiefofDept) June 3, 2020
Speaking to reporters, Monahan explained that the man killed by police is believed to be behind the shooting of another man.
When police found the suspect hiding, officers spotted a gun in his hand. After repeated commands to drop the firearm, the cops eventually opened fire, killing the suspect.
Monahan said body camera footage and videos recorded by bystanders back up his account of the shooting.
Despite the chief’s statement that officers were responding to potential violence from a suspect, leftists quickly shifted their narrative to focus on the number of times officers shot the armed 34-year-old.
Of the rounds fired by ten of the responding cops, 19 supposedly found their way into the suspect’s body, giving anti-cop social media users ample fodder for more outrage.
“19 times” soon began trending on Twitter as users shifted their outrage from the supposed age of the victim to the number of times police supposedly shot the gunman.
As protests against police brutality and riots continue for the second week, this won’t be the last time we see fake news used to hurt the credibility of law enforcement.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
