A local chapter of Black Lives Matter is planning to flood Twitter Wednesday afternoon to demand answers in the shooting of a man by D.C. police.
Mark George, 23, was in critical condition after being shot multiple times by officers Oct. 14. He has since been released from the hospital and is now at the D.C. Jail, according to a woman who answered the phone at the jail's records office.
April Goggans, a core organizer with Black Lives Matter DC, says the group and its supporters are planning a Twitterstorm using the hashtag #MarkGeorge at 4 p.m. Wednesday. A Twitterstorm is a sudden spike in activity surrounding a topic and often serves as a way for users to show solidarity.
"We want answers. We want the names of the officers," Goggans said. "We're just really tired of the freewill of these officer to just shoot, and no one gets indicted. They just get a vacation."
Just after 11 p.m. Oct. 14, undercover officers responded to calls for shots fired on Whaler Place Southeast, police have said. George was standing with a crowd of people but ran as police chased him.
Officers say he pulled a loaded gun and they shot him.
"We started following the shooting the night it happened," Goggans said. "There's no one other than the officers that say there was a gun."
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George's family asked to see body camera video of the incident, but police have said the undercover officers weren't wearing body cameras so there was no footage to release.
"It's irresponsible for six officers on scene of a police shooting, for none of those officers to be wearing a body camera is unconscionable," Mark George's attorney, Brian K. McDaniel, told News4 last month.
Police said they are in the early phases of deploying the cameras and many officers still do not have them.
George's mother said she doesn't believe he had a gun.
"I know my child," Daphne George said. "He's a good kid."
Groggins said the goal of the Twitterstorm is to activate, educate and organize a long-term campaign. During the Twitterstorm, supporters will share George's story and a variety of other information.
"His family is 100 percent behind these efforts, and they are looking for support from anyone and everyone," Goggans said. "They're upset, sad and disgusted."
Daphne George said her son's shooting is something she says every mother now has to fear.
"I'm still numb," she said. "This is something no one should have to go through."
Mark George has been charged with carrying an illegal gun and assault on an officer.
