A man who was wrongly accused of deliberately mowing down emus has spoken out to clear his name after being sent death threats by vile trolls.
Sickening footage showing a man shouting ‘f***ing emus’ while speeding down a rural road in the Australian Outback went viral on Wednesday.
The man can be heard laughing hysterically before saying ‘this is f***ing great’ in the confronting footage as he deliberately runs over the flightless birds.
Melbourne man Harrison Hatzis, 19, was wrongly identified as the man seen in the vision, partly due to a photo on his Facebook next to an emu and his facial hair.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Hatzis said he was desperate to clear his name after social media users threatened to rape and kill his family.
Melbourne man Harrison Hatzis, 19, was wrongly identified as a man seen mowing down emus in a viral video posted to Facebook
‘You can guarantee it’s not me,’ Mr Hatzis said after receiving a torrent of abuse online when a stranger tagged him in the post.
The video was originally posted by a man named Fabio Galletti and has sparked an online hunt to find the motorist.
‘Motherf***ers. Hope karma will hit you hard,’ Mr Galletti wrote in his post, encouraging users to share the video in a bid to find the emu killer.
‘Scum of the earth! Lets share so maybe they can find it,’ one social media user wrote.
‘Does any one know when this was done and how to identify this disgusting human,’ another person added.
‘Hope you see this post and you come and get me you oxygen thieving scum,’ wrote a third person.
Other social media users directly messaged Mr Hatzis on Facebook, threatening to rape and kill his family.
Mr Hatzis commented on Mr Galletti’s post, saying: ‘All these c***s messaging me thinking this was me yous are dumb c***s how do I even look like this c*** in the video.’
The video was originally posted by a man named Fabio Galletti and has sparked an online hunt to find the motorist
Social media users expressed their disgust at the disturbing video
The stomach-churning footage has been viewed almost half a million times since being uploaded on Wednesday afternoon.
At least 10 emus are run over in the video. Where or when the video was filmed is unknown.
The man, who appeared to be driving over 120km/h, turned the camera on himself toward the end of the video.
The driver had a thick, black moustache, and was wearing sunglasses and a cap.
An RSPCA Australia spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia they are shocked and horrified by the footage.
She said staff were examining the footage to try and determine when and where it was filmed.
The man who filmed himself mowing down at least ten emus turned the camera on himself to show his excitement
A mob of emus were filmed being run down by a man with a thick, black moustache, wearing sunglasses and a cap
They are appealing to the public for information, and urge anyone with any knowledge of the source of this video to contact the RSPCA or the police immediately.
‘Such sickening cruelty clearly has no place in our society,’ she said.
‘The RSPCA unequivocally condemns this type of violence, as it clearly shows a disregard for the lives of these vulnerable native animals, and raises grave concerns over this individual’s capacity for such behaviour.’
Mr Galleti told Daily Mail Australia he shared it because he hates animal cruelty.
‘I hope they can find this person and do serious justice to him,’ he said.
At least ten emus are run over in the video, which has more than 12,000 shares on Facebook