Prolific writer and civil rights proponent, Shaun King, sparked controversy after insisting the Kenosha Police Department provide the name of the officer who allegedly shot an unarmed African-American man, Jacob Blake, at point-blank range.
Cellphone footage depicting an encounter between Blake and two unnamed officers went viral earlier this week, as it ended in Blake being shot in the back seven times by one of the officers. Blake is currently alive and under intensive medical care, however he is paralyzed as a result of the shooting.
King took to Twitter to pledge that he would reveal the names of Kenosha PD officers until the police department publicly identified the officer who allegedly shot Blake.
Conservatives led criticisms of King across social media, labeling his tweets as extreme and threatening. Right-wing author and political commentator, Siraj Hashmi specifically responded to King’s tweet by referring to him as a “goddamn lunatic.”
As criticism poured in, King did not rephrase or redact his statement. He currently has the tweet in question pinned to his Twitter page, with a thread that includes the names of possible police officers who may have shot Blake, including one who is reportedly in protective custody. King followed up his tweets with a claim that he caught police conspiring to kill him and that “I’m not the one for finding ways to feel sorry for police departments after they murder and maim Black folk.”