Verified Twitter Users Condemn Kobe as ‘Rapist’ Following Death

Assorted “verified” Twitter accounts and users with blue-checkmark profiles focused on rape allegations made against Kobe Bryant hours after the basketball icon’s tragic death on Sunday.

Felicia Sonmez, a Washington Post reporter, tweeted a Daily Beast article entitled, “Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession.”

Afterwards, Sonmex claimed to be the recipient of “abuse” and “death threats”:

CNN’s Christine Brennan, a sports analyst, noted the sexual assault allegations made against Bryant during a televised segment.

Actress Evan Rachel Wood derided Bryant as a “rapist”:

Guardian columnist Shailja Patel tweeted a 2016 article from ThinkProgress — an arm of the Clinton-affiliated and John Podesta-founded Center for American Progress — linking the rape accusations against Bryant to “victim-blaming”:

Danielle Campoamor, whose writings have been published in the New York Times and Washington Post, characterized Bryant as a rapist who escaped justice by virtue of his social status.

Danielle Cadet, managing editor of Vice Media’s Refinery29, called for “[believing] victims of sexual violence”:

Sarah Kelly, an alumnus of Vox Media’s SB Nation and the Washington Post Express, asked followers to “be honest about the fact that you’re publicly mourning a rapist”:

Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.