Black Lives Matter Minneapolis initially posted that a man had been lynched in a park. (Photo by Fibonacci Blue/Flikr).
The Minneapolis branch of Black Lives Matter has apologized after sharing disturbing photos that suggested an African-American man had been lynched, when the photos were actually of a white man who hanged himself in a city park earlier this week.
The group posted an apology on its Facebook page Tuesday, Aug. 1, sending condolences to the family of 50-year-old Micheal Bringle and retracting its earlier remarks about what they believed had happened.
“As more information came out and Mr. Bringle’s family came forward, it became clear that this was an unfortunate incident caused by mental illness,” the group wrote. “We are sorry if our post offended anyone and hope that folks see we were simply echoing the questions and concerns that community members had.”
St. Paul police found Bringle’s body hanging from a tree in Indian Mounds Park on Tuesday morning, the Minneapolis StarTribune reported. His sister, Kelly Brown-Rozowski, described her brother as a kind man who suffered from mental health issues.
“To me, hearing about it on Facebook was so devastating,” Brown-Rozowski told the paper. “This isn’t something to be shared in such a tragic way; he should be remembered for what a great man he was.”
BLM organizers later removed the photos from their page, but the damage had already been done, as the images had already been shared thousands of times in the few hours they were up.
According to the StarTribune, passerby Davion Gatlin discovered Bringle’s body shortly before 6 a.m., snapped photos and then posted them to Facebook, sparking speculation that the man was the victim of a hate crime.
“This is just a few blocks from where my auntie live I was just at this damn park two nights ago!” Gatlin wrote. “This so damn foul!! I’m so fed up with this s***! They’re still killing us and we still killing each other! #MakeGoViral.”
The post garnered thousands of comments and reactions, and soon caught the attention of BLM Minneapolis. The group shared the photos on its Facebook page, alleging that the man had been “lynched” with his hands behind his back. It went on to promise that it would not let the incident be swept “under the rug.”
The Ramsey County medical examiner’s office determined that Bringle died of suicide.
St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster called the posts “disgusting.”
