Dallas Police Misidentified a Suspect on Twitter and Still Haven't Apologized

Adding to a string of devastating headlines this week, five police officers were murdered and seven others injured in Dallas at a Black Lives Matter protest Thursday night. The officers were targeted by sniper fire from buildings above the rally. Though the main suspect was killed and has now been identified by law enforcement as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson, the Dallas Police Department made an error when they initially searched for a suspect.

In the early hours of the chaotic pursuit for the killer, the department identified Mark Hughes as their suspect and shared an image of the black man on Twitter wearing camouflage and carrying a gun. It was widely shared on Twitter and appeared on television programs across the country.

However, Hughes turned out to be completely innocent. He was legally caring the gun (Texas has an open carry policy) as he peacefully protested before he was targeted. The public information officer for the city of Dallas, Sana Syed, tweeted confirmation of his innocence.

Here is a local television news interview with Hughes. He explains how as he was being accused of the crime rampantly on social media, he was speaking with police officers because he had already turned himself in. It's haunting, but accurate, when Hughes points out he is lucky to be alive given the situation.

Predictably, Hughes has received thousands of death threats since the misidentification, according to the Washington Post. Perhaps even more upsetting is that the picture calling him a suspect is still on the department's Twitter and authorities have yet to apologize to Hughes, who may forever be associated with this tragedy despite having done nothing wrong.