A California man said he was threatened and terrorized after he was falsely accused on Facebook and Twitter of shooting two deputies two years ago, and now he has filed a lawsuit against some people and companies that spread this information.
Two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies were ambushed and shot by a Black suspect in Compton, California. The suspect approached the deputies’ patrol car at the Metro Blue Line station on Sept. 12, 2020, started shooting into the passenger side window and fled the scene.
Darnell Hicks said he was at a transitional housing program where he worked as a client aide at the time.
Yet, Floyd Bradford, the admin of a Facebook with 14,000 members, posted Hicks’ driver’s license photo and address and other private information with the caption, “Let’s find this cockroach and get him off the street ASAP.”
Lawsuit documents obtained by Atlanta Black Star show Bradford also accused Hick of being an “armed and dangerous” gang member who had “vowed to shoot more law enforcement officers.”
Hicks thought the post was a prank until he started receiving an onslaught of messages cussing, threatening to kill him and calling him racial slurs. It was just one of three posts accusing him of the crime, Hick’s defamation and civil rights violation lawsuit alleges.
Ian Miles Cheong, a Malaysian national who promotes right-wing content, posted Hicks’ private information on Twitter, referring to him as the No.1 suspect in the police shooting. Elizabeth Stump, a California resident, posted his information on Facebook with the caption, “Bring him in.”
The Long Beach Post reports that the sheriff’s department said that night on Twitter that they hadn’t yet identified a suspect and the posts naming Hicks for the crime were “erroneous.”
But that did not stop the “hatred, contempt, ridicule, or shame,” the lawsuit alleges. Hicks still receives messages accusing him of being a “cop killer” nearly two years later, he told the paper in a recent interview with the Long Beach Post.
“You Google my name now, and this thing comes up,” Hicks said. “It’s crazy how this happened. How did they get me?”
It is unclear how Hick’s name was implicated in the crime. Hicks sued the social media giants and the users who posted the false allegations against him.
Facebook and Twitter have filed motions asking to be removed from the complaint, claiming immunity from being liable for the actions of third-party users, according to reports.
Hicks is seeking damages to be determined by a jury trial, punitive damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and compensation for his legal fees.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants’ false claims injured Hicks in his occupation and “discouraged others from associating or dealing with him.” They violated his civil rights by “creating or exposing him to a danger he would not have otherwise faced.”
