Social media posts linking Black Lives Matter to the Sep. 12 shooting of two deputies in Compton, California, have been debunked. The false claims were circulated on Twitter saying that the unidentified shooter belonged to BLM.
Following the shooting, social media was flooded with posts falsely stating the BLM protesters supported the attack. One post even claimed that the protesters confronted police officials at a Los Angeles hospital, where the two deputies were taken after being shot.
Conservative author Candance Owens blamed the shooting squarely on "Black Lives Matter and the complicit media organizations, athletes, and entertainers."
According to Snopes.com, such posts were an attempt to turn people against the National Football League for supporting BLM in the past. Conservatives have blamed the movement for alleged violence against police officials while protesting against police shootings of black people.
Compton Shooting
A black man shot ambushed two deputies — a 31-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man — in Compton on Sep. 12. The LASD released a video clip of the attack showing the approaching the patrol vehicle, heading toward the passenger side of the vehicle and firing shots through the side window before fleeing the scene. The LASD said the suspect was aged between 28 and 30.
The sheriff's department initially set a bounty of $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect. It was later hiked to $640,000, according to reports.
Motive of the shooting
The sheriff's department is investigating the motive of the shooting. However, following the shooting the city manager of Lynwood, California, said the cause of the shooting was to be blamed on "deputy gangs."
In his Instagram post, Jose Ometeotl said the Compton station of the LASD had "deputy gangs" who instilled fear in the community by murdering, framing and stealing from them "just because they could."
The Los Angeles Times reported in July that the Compton shooting had a clique that went by the name "the Executioners" that set illegal arrest quotas. However, Sheriff Alex Villanueva maintained that there were no cliques at any stations of the LASD.
