This archive report was first published on 6 June 2020.
Published on June 6, 2020, a Maryland cyclist was arrested and charged with three counts of second-degree assault after a video surfaced showing him grabbing a young woman and pushing a teenager while they posted fliers against police brutality.
The Maryland-National Capital Park Police tracked down Anthony Brennan III, 60, of Kensington, Md., after receiving hundreds of tips from people who had seen the video, which has been viewed more than 29 million times on Twitter.
Before Mr. Brennan was arrested, social media users incorrectly identified two men as suspects, including a retired police official. The Montgomery County Department of Police and the attorney general of Maryland were forced to state that those men were not involved.
According to Captain Jeffrey Coe, a spokesman for the Maryland-National Capital Park Police, the fliers read: “A man was lynched by the police. What are you going to do about it?”
Mr. Brennan began to argue about the fliers and “forcibly grabbed” them from one of the teenagers, the police said. He then pushed his bicycle toward another one of the teens and caused him to fall to the ground, the police said.
Mr. Brennan had worked for a branding company that distributes logos for promotional products but had not made a sale in months, as the business dried up during the coronavirus pandemic, his lawyer said.
Mr. Brennan turned himself into detectives on Friday evening and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of second-degree assault.
“I am sick with remorse for the pain and fear I caused the victims on the trail, and online,” Mr. Brennan said in a statement released by his lawyers.
