HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Authorities have decided not to charge a man who was taken into custody in connection with a video circulating on social media. The District Attorney’s office will not be filing charges against 19-year-old Christopher Tidmore for filming the video because there was no criminal activity shown in the video that they could charge him with.
“One of the issues with the charges that we could have attempted include an absence of any weapons in the video. The absence of an victim being targeted. Unfortunately there’s no general law that covers stupidity,” Lt. Michael Johnson explained.
The DA has decided not to file any charges against 19-year-old Christopher Tidmore of Arab, #Alabama. Over the weekend, a video surfaced online of Tidmore making #racist #threats, according to police. Police say there was nothing criminal they could've charged him with. pic.twitter.com/QoSedSQaU9
— Aaron Cantrell (@AaronTheNewsGuy) July 9, 2018
The Huntsville Police Department says two men, who were in custody in Arab after a disturbing video circulated on social media, have now been released. Police say one of the men seen in the video made racist and threatening comments while the two were riding through an area that appears to be Huntsville.
Saturday evening, police identified the suspect as Christopher Tidmore, 19, of Arab. They say he is not pictured in the video, but can be heard making the statements.
Earlier Saturday, the Huntsville Police Criminal Investigative Divison asked for help identifying the men seen in the video below. A person that follows one of the men social media, saw the Snapchat story, and recorded it on her phone. WHNT News 19 has censored the language in the video. We want to warn you that what you hear may still be offensive to some viewers.
In the video, a voice is heard threatening to shoot black people in a Huntsville neighborhood.
Police say they now know who both men are and they have evaluated the threats. Investigators do not believe the man behind the camera, Tidmore, is a viable threat. Lt. Michael Johnson said as of 8:45 PM Saturday, the men had been released from custody and were no longer being detained.
Those involved in the video have been identified and are in custody in Arab. Thanks to those that gave tips and to our CID threat assessment investigators. We will update any progress on this incident at a later time.
— Huntsville Police (@HsvPolice) July 7, 2018
Arab Police Assistant Chief Shane Washburn confirmed Tidmore came into their office on his own to report he was receiving death threats. While he was there, Arab police detained him so he could talk to Huntsville investigators.
Huntsville City Councilman Devyn Keith, who initially expressed concern after the video was brought to his attention, applauded police efforts on Facebook.
WHNT News 19 will continue to follow this story as it develops.