Fact Check

Dallas Shooter Not Identified as Neo-Nazi Jeffrey Harris

A troll Twitter account started a false rumor that a neo-Nazi named Jeffrey Harris was responsible for the protest shooting of police in Dallas.

Published July 7, 2016

 (Dallas PD Facebook)
Image Via Dallas PD Facebook
Claim:
Neo-Nazi Jeffrey Harris was identified as the man who shot and killed several police officers at a protest in Dallas.

Several police officers were shot and killed at the end of a protest against police violence in Dallas on 7 July 2016. As chaos unfolded on the streets and as the media attempted to get a grasp on the situation, a troll Twitter account posted a message claiming that the shooter had been identified as Neo-Nazi Jeffrey Harris.

JUST IN: #Dallas shooter identitified as white neo-Nazi Jeffrey Harris. Linked to KKK, American Nazi Party.

This message,  posted by the "Alt Right Fanfiction" Twitter account, is completely false. The gunman in the Dallas protest shootings has been identified as Micah Xavier Johnson:

Dallas police identified a North Texas man as a gunman responsible for shootings at Dallas protests that left five police officers dead and seven more injured.

Micah Xavier Johnson, of Mesquite, is one of four people police said were responsible for ambushing police officers at a peaceful protest against nation-wide officer-involved shootings in Dallas.

Police said officers cornered Johnson and negotiated with him for hours before talks broke down. Dallas Police Chief David Brown said Johnson told officers he was upset about recent shootings involving police and "wanted to kill white people. Especially white officers."

Moreover, the man pictured above is not a neo-Nazi named Jeffrey Harris. The photograph actually shows Michael Arthur Lane, who was arrested for a parole violation in Florida in October 2015.  

A similar "hoax" was pulled after the death of Alton Sterling when a photograph of a Trump supporter circulated along with the claim that the man pictured was the officer responsible for Sterling's death.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.