Amanda Knox, the American sentenced to 26 years in prison for killing her British roommate, pleaded her innocence today in Italian appeals court and Twitter believes her.
Knox has been a top trending topic all morning in the United States, with thousands of people — including celebrities — calling for her release.
“Amanda Knox is innocent I’ve been following the case for 4 years and I pray she is set free on Monday,” tweeted Heather McDonald a producer for the Chelsea Lately.
“Everyone should boycott Italy if Amanda Knox is not freed—she is totally innocent,” tweeted Donald Trump.
Since 5 a.m. ET, Knox and the word “innocent” have been tweeted more than 700 times, according to statistics from Topsy, a social media search engine. (People have also been using Knox’s name with words and phrases like “free,” “no evidence,” and “home” to declare her innocence.)
It appears like the majority of these tweets aren’t just reporting the news, but stating their opinions about the case.
By comparison, Knox and the word “guilty” have been tweeted about 160 times during that same time frame.
“I’ve lost a friend in the worst, most brutal, most inexplicable way possible,” Knox said in court today, according to CBS News. “I’m paying with my life for things that I didn’t do.”
The jury is currently deliberating and is not expected to reach a verdict until after 2 p.m. ET, reported CBS.
On Dec. 4, 2009, an Italian panel of judges convicted Knox for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher. Also convicted were Raffaele Sollecito, Knox’s ex-boyfriend, and Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast native, according to CNN.
Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years in Italian prison and Guede received 16 years.
According to prosecutors, Knox “was a resentful American so angry with her British roommate that she exacted revenge during a twisted sex misadventure game at the students’ home” in Perugia, Italy, reported CNN.
Knox’s defense team in the highly-publicized case claims that she was not in the home when the murder occurred and Knox testified that she was not a “killer,” reported CNN.
Photo via CBS news.
