A retired officer with the Montgomery County (MD) Police Department—who had served with the agency for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2016—was falsely accused of accosting three teens who were posting signs along a bike trail decrying the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis late last month, but has now been vindicated as innocent.

Damskey came under social media fire before another man—identified by authorities as 60-year-old Anthony Brennan III—was arrested in connection with the alleged assault on the teens, who ranged in age between 16 and 19 years old.

According to the Baltimore Sun, John Damskey, his wife, and even his 74-year-old mother had received social media threats over the incident on the bike trail.

"I've got a wife who is in tears. My mom is scared to death," Damskey said in an interview on Monday. "It's sad. It's scary. It's something that I don't ever want to go through again."