Cincinnati Bengals wide-receiver Chris Henry passed away this morning from injuries sustained after a fall from on open pickup truck yesterday. The Charlotte Observer reports, "Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry dies after Charlotte accident." And also, at CNN, "Bengals coach: Henry 'beacon of hope' before death."
Cincinnati Bengals football player Chris Henry died after he fell from the bed of a moving pickup truck during a fight with his fiancée, police said Thursday.But there's a really disturbing twist here. Last night, a Twitter user named Biodome10 falsely reported that Henry had died, and the story was retweeted widely around the Internet, and apparently even the Huffington Post reported the information. See, "The tragedy of Chris Henry and the disaster on Twitter." There's a screencap of the tweet at the link, which reads:
"Chris Henry died as a result of his injuries sustained during this incident," a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police news release said. "Department detectives continue to work diligently on this active investigation."
Henry died at 6:36 a.m. ET Thursday, the statement said.
Shortly before noon Wednesday, Henry's fiancée tried to drive off during a "domestic situation," only to have Henry jump into the bed of the truck, police said.
"The domestic situation continued between the operator and Mr. Henry," according to a police statement. Henry "came out of the back of the vehicle" about half a mile from the house, it said.
Henry was a native of Belle Chasse, Louisiana, according to the Bengals' Web site. He and his fiancée, Loleini Tonga, had planned to be married in March, the team said. Henry leaves three children -- two sons and a daughter, the team said.
Just spoke to Dr. Allenberg, the head of the ICU at Piedmont Regional Medical Center, he confirmed Chris Henry has passed away and ...The initial tweet is still available on Twitter, as well as this update:
See also, "How a Fake Twitter Death Report Tragically Came True" (which has more screencaps).
I'm not linking to Biodome10. I checked one of the other tweets. It reads, "Ive received numerous requests for my source regarding Chris Henry's passing. I just finished my article on the DMN blog," and then sends readers to a gay porn blog post. There's another that I haven't clicked. It reads, "Footage of the accident. DO NOT CLICK IF YOU GET UPSET EASILY.Very gruesome." That's followed by a tinyURL link to who knows where?
You'd think Twitter would take the page down. There's no First Amendment protections for falsehoods like this, and I imagine the family could seek legal damages.
Like I said. Nothing surprises me any more. As we've seen just this week with the campaign of intimidation against me by E.D. Kain, there are few taboos left any more.
I'm praying for the family of Chris Henry. And I'm praying for my readers at American Power. Please be careful out there.
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