The assault occured on Monday, June 1, according to Park Police.

Joe Flood / Flickr

This story was updated at 10:45 a.m. June 6.

Police have arrested a man who allegedly assaulted a group of teenagers hanging posters in support of George Floyd along the Capital Crescent Trail earlier this week, an incident that prompted widespread outrage and sparked multiple internet rumors of possible suspects — both of which proved to be wrong.

In a statement, Anthony Brennan III, pictured here, said he was committed to working to “provide peace to our community and justice to the victims in the video, as well as to all victims of racism and police brutality.” Maryland-National Capital Park Police

The Maryland-National Capital Park Police announced Friday night they had arrested Anthony Brennan III, 60, of Kensington Maryland. Brennan has been charged with three counts of second degree assault. In a statement released by his attorneys, Brennan said that he is “sick with remorse for the pain and fear I caused the victims” and said he is cooperating with police.

“I am committed to making amends by addressing, through counseling, the underlying issues that led to my abhorrent behavior,” he said. “I am dedicated to working with the Montgomery County State Attorney’s Office to provide peace to our community and justice to the victims in the video, as well as to all victims of racism and police brutality.”

The incident occurred on Monday, June 1, only days into protests across the country against police violence and misconduct. According to video footage of the incident that went viral on social media, a man now identified by police as Brennan came across the group of teenagers as he was riding his bike on the popular trail that connects Georgetown to Bethesda.

He is seen walking toward a woman as someone yells, “leave her alone.” The man then turns and walks back toward a young girl. He aggressively wrestles an object out of her hands as bystanders yell “leave her alone,” “walk away” and “do not touch her.” He can also be heard yelling an expletive at the group after he grabs the object from the girl. Near the end of the clip, he charges with his bike at the person filming, who appears to fall to the ground.

The man who filmed the encounter told NBC Washington that the group was hanging up posters along the trail in support of Floyd, the black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25. In the video, the cyclist can be seen holding flyers that the man filming says he had taken from the young girl.

Coverage of the assault quickly drew widespread attention and was picked up by local and national outlets, including CNN and HuffPost. It also prompted a statewide search, as Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh retweeted a video of the incident, asking those with information that could identify the suspect to contact him or Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.

And as the video went viral on social media — it has been viewed more than 31 million times to date — two men were misidentified on social media in connection with the attack on Twitter. Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White shared one man’s name in an Instagram post, suggesting he was the cyclist in the video. The man was later excluded as a suspect, according to a police report he shared on Twitter, and White deleted the post.

In another case, internet rumors swirled that the suspect may have been a former Montgomery County police officer, and his apparent home address in Silver Spring was publicized. Both were false, forcing park police to clarify on Twitter that “reports circulating on social media referencing a former MCPD employee as being the suspect in the Capital Crescent trail assault are false.”

The homeowner at the Silver Spring address that was shared online also took to social media on Friday night to warn against spread unconfirmed rumors. “Please, Twitterverse, learn that posting [people’s] addresses is dangerous,” she tweeted on Friday evening.

In a statement, Brennan’s attorneys said he accepted responsibility for what had happened.

“Anthony Brennan recognizes that his outrageous behavior toward the young adult victims on the Crescent Trail was unacceptable and wrong. The outrage felt in our community and across our country is completely justified,” said Andrew Jezic and David Moyse. “Unfortunately, several innocent people were also victimized by having been erroneously identified online, and their reputations were tarnished. Mr. Brennan understands that his apology will not be enough to right his wrongs.”

This story has been updated with information on the suspect’s arrest, a statement from the suspect’s attorneys and additional details.

Filed Under: capital crescent trail, crime, George Floyd, Maryland,