But as many Twitter users posted with hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter, #DyingWhileBlack and #HandsUpDontShoot, some white users posted confessions to crimes they said they had gotten away with, using the hashtag #CrimingWhileWhite, with the intent of showing a racial double standard in policing.
Garner died after being grappled to the floor by several New York police officers during his arrest for selling loose cigarettes in Staten Island. His death was caught on videotape.
Jason Ross, a writer for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, has been credited for starting the hashtag and pushing people to share their stories:
According to Topsy, a social analytics company, the hashtag has been used in more than 225,000 tweets between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. Here’s a sampling:
As a passenger, told an officer my name was none of his f--king business, but that I wanted to know his. Matter dropped. #CrimingWhileWhite