Micah David Johnson is a 24-year-old Dallas native who was listed among the Black men wrongly identified as a suspect in the deadly sniper attack on July 8, 2016. In less than 24 hours, Johnson woke up to life-altering news flooding the internet that he was a person of interest in the recent killings of five police officers because his name is similar to that of the confirmed gunman, Micah Xavier Johnson.
According to Johnson, the rumor allegedly was started by a freelance journalist who didn’t do the proper research. The journalist used a photo of Johnson from his personal Facebook account without hesitation leaving him with an inbox full of hate mail, a flood of phone calls and social media in an uproar.
Johnson is an advocate for social justice in the Dallas community who is highly recognized for the work that he has done within his hometown. Hundreds of loyal friends, family members and classmates defended him, standing firm against the false allegations circulating the internet. Johnson also mentioned that he had received several apologies after being pinned as the shooter but continues to fear this incident will affect both his personal and professional life in the future. He also stated that he made several attempts to contact larger media platforms like CNN in hopes of clearing his name, but never received a response.
Johnson is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi, an alumnus of HBCU Huston-Tillotson University and Shepherd University where he recently received his master’s degree. He has plans to pursue a career in higher education in the years to come. Johnson spoke to rolling out recently to discuss the situation in detail. Check out what he had to say below.
Where were you the night the attack occurred?
I was actually on a date. I was out with a lady friend and we went to this place called Shenaniganz in Rockwall, Texas. It is basically in the complete opposite direction from where everything happened. I was out bowling then later went to IHOP.
At what point did you realize that your face was being plastered across the internet?
I woke [up] that next morning and had missed calls, text messages, Facebook posts and GroupMe posts that I was tagged in. I am not usually tagged in this GroupMe. It’s only like 40 people in it. It is our youth ministry GroupMe. I got all these posts and started reading through them and people I knew were like “Tell me that’s not you,” or “Please call me and let me know that you’re OK.” Then I got a call and when I answered the person was really panicking. She kept saying she needed to hear my voice over and over. I was like what are you talking about and she started to tell me to go look at the news. I was sitting there looking at everything like no way. Me and the actual shooter are also one year apart [in age]. Growing up I always thought my name was unique as hell, so for that to be what it was it just blew my mind. For like the next six hours I was just completely overwhelmed and especially after the article was put out. It just seems so surreal.
Where did the false information develop from?
I think it was a freelance guy. I also had freelance journalists pop up at my door and I had to call the police. They were literally trying to get a story from me. I was like, “don’t y’all know that this guy is dead” and based off of CNN they were already at the guy’s house. I am guessing that he just Googled my name and just assumed the first picture of a Micah Johnson in Mesquite was the shooter and I guess that is the picture that he came across. I saw it and was like am I really going to be on the news and wondering if they were going to put the wrong picture up on CNN. They didn’t, thank God. I called the police and they told me that any real knowledgeable new sources are aware of where to go and who it is.
Have you received an apology from the journalist who allegedly started the rumor?
Last night before I went to bed I checked and basically he had been apologizing all day. My cousin went to high school with the actual shooter, so she was like you’re trying to ruin my family’s reputation and that he could get someone hurt. I tweeted him and told him that was a picture of me and all he said was that he had been apologizing all day. He was saying everybody was [perpetuating] my image by posting and sharing my picture on social media. Granted that’s a good point but I don’t know who [had] seen the picture, in the city or in the nation. Just because he deleted the picture, didn’t mean that the damage hadn’t already been done.
Do you have a sense of vindication after witnessing your family and friends defend your name?
Yesterday I thought it was the realest thing ever. For that many people to go to bat for me was crazy. For me to know that I didn’t have to wait until I die to see my legacy. People were really spilling their hearts out to express how they felt about me and how I wasn’t the shooter. This was really eye-opening. I even had random people messaging me on my Facebook who I didn’t know but [who] were supporting me. I was nervous for my own safety but I know now how people will react when Micah is gone from this Earth.
What is your hope moving forward?
I hope that journalists can be a little more thorough with their research process prior to putting somebody out there like that. That is life changing for someone sometimes. If this is your craft don’t just jump the gun. Also, Black lives do matter and all lives matter. We just have to start working together as a community. We need to understand that there are groups of people that are more disadvantaged because of history and the media. We need to use media as a tool of change and not for quick money and attention. Shows used to talk about family and teamwork, but now it’s all about satire. We are allowing our children to watch these shows putting them at a disadvantage going forward. They are going to be our future leaders.
For the people in America who have been misinformed about you being a suspect, what would you like to say to them?
I would like to tell them that my name is Micah David Johnson and not Micah Xavier Johnson. I am a proud, young Black man, [who is] a graduate of Huston-Tillotson University and Shepherd University. I am a compassionate man who wants to bridge the gap [between] people.
