Ferguson Twitter News: Hacker Posted Tweet About Grand Juror, User Says
The woman behind the Twitter account which posted information about grand jury proceedings in the Ferguson trial denies having posted the tweet and says her account may have been hacked.
"It had to have been hacked," Susan Nichols, of St. Louis, told NBC on Thursday.
The account in her name, @thesusannichols, posted the message: "I know someone sitting on the grand jury of this case[.] There isn't enough at this point to warrant an arrest."
Tweeters replied to her informing her that grand jury proceedings were supposed to be secret.
ADrLMPonte tweeted, "Grand Jury process=sacred trusted & secret. The appearance of impropriety is serious!"
Another user, @CinnaAyn, said, "why the hell is someone on the grand jury speaking about case?!?! They are not allowed to share info."
Soon after some of the reply posts, the message was deleted by the account. An account with the same Twitter handle popped up later, but it appears to be someone trying to capitalize on the fame of the account, NBC reported.
Nichols told news reporters she does not know anyone on the grand jury and did not send that message, and in fact has not been on the account for months.
The 12-member grand jury is hearing evidence in the case against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.
The jury convened Aug. 20, and will be deliberating until January after asking for a 60-day extension.
"I really feel bad for that family, for the loss of their son," Nichols said, adding that she has had no contact with anyone on the jury.
St. Louis County prosecutors are investigating the tweet to see if someone violated grand jury secrecy rules, which they were alerted to on the day it was posted, Wednesday.
Nichols said she had talked to the authorities about the situation.
A Washington University law professor told the New York Times that even if a leak is found within the grand jury, they can still continue with only 11 members and it would not halt the proceedings.
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