Police Ask, Facebook Complies: Social Media as State Privilege

Police in the U.S. city of Baltimore asked Facebook to suspend the social media accounts of slain Black woman Korryn Gaines, 23, after she was shot dead by police Monday afternoon, with the social media giant complying despite the lack of any judicial order. Gaines had been live-streaming her faceoff with law enforcement and her Facebook page detailed what she described as past police harassment.

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Facebook deactivated, but did not delete, Gaines’ Facebook and Instagram accounts during the standoff, but they were reactivated Tuesday and the videos she took went viral.

In one video, Gaines is seen talking with her 5-year-old. She asks him “who is outside?” and he answers, “the police” as officers are standing by the front door with military-style gear. Gaines then asks her son, “and what are they trying to do?” He says, “they’re trying to kill us.”

She further asks him if he wants to go “out there,” and he says “no,” before the video ends.

At around 3 p.m. local time, six hours after police arrived, the officers shot at her at least once, police said, claiming that she shot back. It was then, according to officials, that police officers shot her multiple times and killed her.

Her killing prompted outrage on social media, reigniting concerns about police use of force, especially against African-Americans. The hashtags #KorrynGaines and #SayHerName trended on Twitter.

The police claim that Gained pointed a shotgun at officers, who were at her apartment to serve warrants on her and her boyfriend, Kareem Courtney.

"When somebody points a gun directly at an officer and threatens to shoot them, it very well may not end well. That is the situation we had in this case," police spokesperson Elise Armacost told reporters Tuesday.

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Gaines faced charges, including disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, stemming from a traffic stop in March. Courtney was wanted for an assault charge against Gaines.

Gaines' social media accounts include several videos from March that showed the incident and how she was harassed and abused by police officers during the traffic stop.

Courtney, who is also Black, fled with a 1-year-old boy and was arrested soon after the standoff on Monday. Gaines remained in the apartment with her son, who was caught in the gunfire and is now recovering at a local hospital. It is still unknown who shot him.

During the March traffic incident, officers stopped Gaines for driving with pieces of cardboard in place of license plates, a police report said.

One of them had written on it, "Any Government official who compromises this pursuit to happiness and right to travel will be held criminally responsible and fined, as this is a natural right and freedom." She tossed the officers' citations out the window. She said they "would have to 'murder' her" to get her out of her car so it could be towed, according to the police report.