Death of Khaled Mohamed Saeed: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=JanuaryNovember 20132020}}

Saeed was raised by his mother and the rest of his extended family after the death of his father when he was young. Showing an interest in computers, he lived and studied [[computer programming]] for some time in the [[United States]]. He also loved music and had been composing a musical piece before his death.<ref>{{cite news|title=Q&A with Ali Qassem, uncle of slain youth Khaled Saeed (part one)|author=Lina Attalah|url=http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/53167|newspaper=Almasry Alyoum|date=30 June 2010|accessdate=26 January 2011}}</ref>

Multiple witnesses testified that Saeed was beaten to death by the police, who reportedly hit him and smashed him against objects as he was led outside to their police car.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/51909 |title=Anger in Alexandria: 'We're afraid of our own government' |publisher=[[Almasry Alyoum]] |date=25 June 2010 |accessdate=13 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427172608/http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/51909 |archivedate=27 April 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref> The owner of the internet cafe in which Saeed was arrested stated that he witnessed Saeed being beaten to death in the doorway of the building across the street after the detectives took him out of the cafe at the owner's request.<ref name="San Diego"/>

The police reported that Saeed suffocated in an attempt to swallow a packet of [[hashish]], a claim supported by two autopsy reports made by Forensic Authorities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/journalists-protest-state-media-coverage-alexandria-police-killing|title=Journalists protest state media coverage of Alexandria police killing|publisher=[[Almasry Alyoum]]|date=23 June 2010|accessdate=13 July 2010}}</ref> The police further stated that Saeed was "wanted for theft and weapons possession and that he resisted arrest".<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|title=Demonstrators in Egypt rail against brutality, man's death |author=Ben Wedeman |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2010-06-25/world/egypt.police.beating_1_brutality-mohamed-elbaradei-egyptian?_s=PM:WORLD |newspaperpublisher=[[CNN]] |date=25 June 2010 |accessdate=3 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201014256/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-06-25/world/egypt.police.beating_1_brutality-mohamed-elbaradei-egyptian?_s=PM%3AWORLD |archivedate= 1 February 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref>

Among those who saw the photo, was Google marketing executive [[Wael Ghonim]]. Ghonim was located in [[Dubai]] at the time of the incident and decided to create a [[Facebook]] memorial page for Said, called "We are all Khaled Said" within five days of his death. The page attracted hundreds of thousands of followers, becoming Egypt's biggest dissident Facebook page.<ref name="NYTFB">{{Cite news|title=Facebook and YouTube Fuel the Egyptian Protests|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/world/middleeast/06face.html|date=5 February 2011|last=Preston|first=Jennifer|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="NATO">{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2011/Social_Medias/Egypt_Facebook/EN/index.htm|title= Egypt and Facebook: Time to Update Its Status|work=Nato Review|publisher=[[NATO]]|year=2011|accessdate=19 March 2011|last=Heaven|first= Will}}</ref> Support for Said rapidly spread,<ref name=ABC/><ref name=NATO/> with many Facebook members using his photograph for their own profiles.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/undercover-police-arrested-over-beating-death-of-egyptian-man|title=Undercover Police Arrested Over Beating Death of Egyptian Man|author=Nadia abou el Magd|date=2 July 2010|accessdate=19 March 2011|work=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]]|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101211164430/http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/undercover-police-arrested-over-beating-death-of-egyptian-man|archivedate=11 December 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In mid-June, the Facebook page had already 130,000 members that were active.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/world/middleeast/06face.html|title=Movement Began With Outrage and a Facebook Page That Gave It an Outlet|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref> Because of the photo and the heavy amount of international criticism that arose from the incident, the Egyptian government consented to a trial for the two detectives involved in his death.<ref>{{cite news|title=We are all Khaled Said: Redefining political demonstration in Egypt|author=Noha El-Hennawy|url=http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/61266 |newspaper=Almasry Alyoum|date=4 August 2010|accessdate=27 January 2011}}</ref>

On 27 January 27, 2011, Ghonim was arrested for 12 days. Egypt also blocked nearly all access to the internet throughout the country.<ref>{{cite web | last=Williams | first=Christopher | title=How Egypt shut down the internet | website=Telegraph.co.uk | date=2011-01-28 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8288163/How-Egypt-shut-down-the-internet.html | ref=harv | access-date=2018-06-08}}</ref> Ghonim wanted to remain anonymous but could not avoid Egyptian security forces. It later became apparent that Ghonim recruited an Egyptian political activist named [[AbdelRahman Mansour|AbdulRahman Mansour]] to become his co-admin.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/wael_ghonim_let_s_design_social_media_that_drives_real_change|title=Wael Ghonim TED Talk}}</ref> Both administrators received the credit for the creation of the site. Under the anonymous name ''el shaheed'' ("the martyr"), they were able to post and moderate the Arabic Facebook page. The involvement of Mansour in the creation of this page caused great controversy because he was a member of the 25 January 25 coalition as well as the author of an article on the Muslim Brotherhood's English website titled "Mastermind Behind Egypt Uprising."<ref name=WAAKS /> In a 2011 interview, Ghonim blamed the regime for the people's anger, saying that blocking access to Facebook made them even angrier and led them to protests in the streets.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/wael-ghonim/|title=Internet activist Wael Ghonim, Part 1 {{!}} Interviews {{!}} Tavis Smiley {{!}} PBS|newspaper=Tavis Smiley {{!}} PBS|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wael-ghonim-and-egypts-new-age-revolution/2/|title=Wael Ghonim and Egypt's New Age Revolution|access-date=2016-11-19}}</ref>