Michael Brown Shooting: Twitter User Saw The Whole Thing, ‘I JUST SAW SOMEONE DIE OMFG’
As the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown unfolded on Saturday, a Twitter user with the handle @TheePharaoh watched the horrifying incident take place in front of him — and live-tweeted the killing, providing what is believed to be the only contemporaneous account of the fatal police shooting yet to emerge publicly.
The series of tweets was discovered and collected by Rolling Stone reporter Tim Dickinson. Before proceeding, be warned that the tweets contain graphic language and are very disturbing.
While media outlets have not been able to confirm the authenticity of the tweets, a few details would seem to suggest that they are genuine. Of course, the time stamps on the tweets indicate that they were posted on August 9, starting just after noon local time in Ferguson.
That would make this series of tweets the only public account of the Michael Brown killing by police officer Darren Wilson that was actually recorded prior to the incident becoming a national news story.
He also states, referring to the shooting victim, “apparently he stole some rellos,” a reference to the cigarillos that Michael Brown is accused of forcibly taking from a convenience store — a fact that was not publicized until Friday, August 15, six days after @TheePharaoah posted his tweet.
TheePharaoh identifies himself as a St. Louis rapper and music producer. He appears to maintain a Soundcloud account containing streaming tracks of his music, including songs such as “African Leather,” “American Pictures,” and “Transformation.”
The sequence of tweets by @TheePharaoh begins with an all caps exclamation, “I JUST SAW SOMEONE DIE OMFG.” In the next tweet he says he is about to hyperventilate.”
And in his third tweet, he explains, “the police just shot someone dead in front of my crib yo.”
I JUST SAW SOMEONE DIE OMFG
— Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
Im about to hyperventilate — Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
@allovevie the police just shot someone dead in front of my crib yo
— Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
He also, in the tweets, says that Brown was running when he was shot twice from behind, then when he turned around, five more times in what the Twitter user described as a “barrage” of gunfire.
@SLIKK_DARKO the first two was, the next 5 werent, he turned around
— Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
The first two was clear, then it was a barage of them shits
— Bruh. (@TheePharoah) August 9, 2014
The Twitter user also included photos, including a highly upsetting image which appears to show the body of Michael Brown lying unattended in the street. That image can be accessed at this link.
