Maryland-National Capital Park Police arrested a suspect from Kensington, Maryland, after video went viral showing a man aggressively interfering with three young people putting up fliers commemorating the death of George Floyd.
Anthony Brennan III, 60, was charged with three counts of second-degree assault.
A Twitter user named Victor Stoddard posted video of the incident on Thursday. The video labels it as June 2, but police later said the assaults took place on June 1.
In the clip, shot on the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda, Maryland, a man in a bicycle helmet walked up to a girl who appeared to be a minor in an intimidating manner and backed her up against a fence. While others at the scene screamed at him not to touch her, he grabbed her wrist and forcibly tried to take something away from her.
The man then took his bike and ran at the man shooting the video on his phone, forcing him to the ground.
“They were putting up signs to commemorate the death of George Floyd. He wasn’t having it,” Stoddard wrote. Police said the fliers “reference a call for community action.”
They were putting up signs to commemorate the death of George Floyd. He wasn’t having it. pic.twitter.com/eukrXrxoLN
— Victor Stoddard (@VicStoddard) June 4, 2020
The video quickly received national attention. Park Police said they received “hundreds of tips” about who the man in the video was.
Police said Mr. Brennan turned himself in after an arrest warrant was obtained.
Some Twitter users misidentified the suspect and levied false accusations against a man named Peter Weinberg — who later tweeted out a police document to show he had been “excluded” as a suspect — and former police captain John Damskey.
For the latter accusation, the Montgomery County Police Department issued a statement, saying reports that “a former MCPD employee as being the suspect in the Capital Crescent trail assault are false.”
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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