Ill-judged social media posts have undone the most promising of careers, criminal or otherwise.
Yet the foolhardy braggadocio of a man in Clayton County, Georgia, last week is still remarkable by any standard.
The man in question filmed himself on 9 March pointing a handgun from a passing vehicle at an officer from the Jonesboro Police Department who had pulled over another driver.
The uploaded video shows the suspect aiming what appears to be a handgun at the oblivious police officer (Sheriff Victor Hill/YouTube)
Cops would have remained none the wiser were it not for the fact that the gun-toting cameraman decided to post the video of his cocky stunt on Instagram under the username “93xnly”.
Unsurprisingly, when the provocative upload came to the attention of Sheriff Victor Hill, he ordered an investigation to find the culprit.
Online anonymity emboldens certain social media users, but in this case the process of identification was relatively straightforward, according to a report of the incident published by the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office.
In earlier posts, the Instagram suspect had written about freeing his brother, whom he even named as Cameron Jones.
It was a name local officers knew well. Cameron Jones, now 21, was arrested back in December 2018 for his involvement in an escort service that robbed its clients, leading to the deaths of two victims. He later plotted unsuccessfully to kill two deputies to escape custody, and is currently serving life without parole for murder.
With the family connection established, police identified the Instagram gun-pointer as Jordan Jones (Cameron’s younger brother) and issued a warrant for his arrest.
Following a search, Jones’s own mother eventually “dragged” him to the Upson County Jail, where he was taken into custody.
The charges to be brought against Jones are still unclear. What’s certain is that he’ll be rueing this latest social media misfire.
This is disgusting! He deserves everything he gets