A report has uncovered that the Wikipedia pages of several police killing victims like Eric Garner, Sean Bell and many more, were edited by computers traced to the New York Police Department.
According to Capital New York, the investigation traces back to 10 years of Wikipedia activity by the computers located at 1 Police Plaza. Many of the edits, which were traced back to NYPD-based IP addresses, were police activity in the incidents. These included how the encounters began, and clear statements on who was to blame in each.
In regards to the Eric Garner case, "Garner raised both his arms in the air" was switched to "Garner flailed his arms about as he spoke" after an the court failed to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in Garner's death. "Use of the choke-hold has been prohibited" was also changed to "Use of the choke-hold is legal, but has been prohibited." Other pages edited were the 2006 case of Sean Bell, Alexien Lien and Amadou Diallo. Keywords like "unarmed," "armed," "shot," and "shot at" were also switched around.
Out of the 15,000 IP pages registered to the force, 85 NYPD addresses have been edited on Wikipedia. Heavy activity on the site was also traced to a dozen NYPD IP addresses. There are currently 50,000 people employed with the NYPD.
The politics and actions of the "Stop and Frisk" policy were also altered. NYPD spokeswoman, Detective Cheryl Crispin, also stated "The matter is under internal review," following the accusations.
A full list of changes can be viewed here.
Source: Capital New York | Photo Credit: Splash News
