Jesus Christo, 18, told The Huffington Post that he and Martin were stopped by an officer who said they fit the descriptions of recent robbery suspects. Christo declined to speak over the phone, but spoke through direct messages on Twitter.
The officer attempted to search Martin, who refused, Christo said.
"The officer then stepped back and drew his weapon and pointed at Antonio and told us to lay on the ground," Christo said. "I layed [sic] down but Antonio Refused [sic]."
More from Christo:
"The officer then began to step back from us with his gun still aimed at us. He told Antonio to lay down once again and when Antonio didn't lay down the officer opened fire. And when I tried to get up to help my friend he screamed at me to stay down with his weapon still drawn."
Oh look...another "witness" who lied to get attention and flame racial tensions...
[h1]Teen lied on Twitter, pretended he witnessed shooting of Missouri 18-year-old Antonio Martin[/h1][h2]A supposed 18-year-old fooled reporters into believing he was best friends with Martin and saw him die at the Mobil Gas Station in Berkeley, Mo., on Tuesday night. 'I can’t believe my best friend just died in front of me,' the user known as @DesJuanTheThug wrote.[/h2]
BY
NICOLE HENSLEY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, December 24, 2014, 1:05 PM
An online troll lied about watching his best friend die at the hands of a Berkeley, Mo., cop. just to boost his clout.
Twitter user @DesJuanTheThug tricked his way
into news reports by the Huffington Post after claiming he witnessed the shooting of Antonio Martin late Tuesday night at a gas station.
The stunt garnered the attention of upset Internet users fooled by his deceit and even the shady group known as “Anonymous,” which teamed up to out the Twitter user’s identity and address.
Just minutes after 18-year-old Martin had been shot, the anonymous teen wrote: “I can’t believe my best friend just died in front of me.”
The teen also goes by the moniker "Jesus Christo," but it's not clear if that's his real name.
Martin was killed just after 11:15 p.m. Tuesday for allegedly pointing a handgun at a Berkeley police officer at a Mobil gas station who was investigating a theft. The 34-year-old officer fired three shots at Martin “fearing for his life” as the teen raised the weapon, according to a statement released by St. Louis County Police.
As gunfire broke out, a second man seen with Martin at the gas station fled the scene.
The man claiming to be an 18-year-old witness sparked an overnight ruse with reporters and alleged he witnessed Martin’s death.
He said the unidentified officer shot Martin when both he and the suspect were ordered to the ground at gunpoint. The officer opened fire and killed Martin when he refused, Christo claimed.
Christo’s sad story quickly dissolved after he refused to speak to Huffington Post over the phone and began sharing sexually inappropriate tweets in what would have been a time of mourning.
He also plugged his Soundcloud and later SnapChat, but did not link to any known account for Soundcloud.
He owned up to his false account early Wednesday morning and told HuffPo to “do a better job of finding credible sources.”
Several of his tweets detailing his fake account of the shooting have since been deleted, but the initial post that started the fiasco has been shared more than 2,000 times.
The story published by Huffington Post now features a correction that states Christo was never at the gas station.
Two witnesses have provided statements to investigators on Martin’s shooting.
The shooting also led to a demostration with about 300 protesters, some of whom threw bricks and set off fireworks, at the gas station.
[email protected]
@DesJuan
TheThug...LOL