By Harry Rutter
Kim Kardashian has swiftly deleted a post on her social media after wrongly identifying a death row inmate.
The reality TV star shared an image of who she thought was Ivan Cantu, a man facing execution for murder in Texas. He's been on death row since 2001 and his story is making headlines around the world, but Kim might have just caused some confusion.
She'd actually shared an image of 60-year-old businessman Ivan A. Cantu from New York, uploading his photograph for her 364million followers. Understandably freaked out, A. Cantu instantly assumed he was being pranked by The Kardashians.
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READ MORE: Kim Kardashian issues urgent plea to fans as she tries to save man from execution
He found out he was on Kim's page after relatives told him about her blunder, he told TMZ on Monday. After he revealed the star's error, Kim's post was quickly removed from her social media, replaced with an op ed article from the Austin American-Statesman.
She also uploaded a campaign aimed at Texas Governor Greg Abbott to delay the real Ivan's execution, currently set for Wednesday, February 28. Kim's training to be a lawyer and is passionate about criminal justice, much like her late father Robert Kardashian.
The reality star believes Ivan didn't do the crime he's accused of and is desperate to help him gain his freedom. Cantu has been in prison for over 20 years after he was found guilty of killing his cousin, James Mosqueda, and his fiancee Amy Kitchen. He is scheduled to get an injection that will end his life on February 28.
Following a number of delayed dates, his execution was once again pushed back last year after new proof was said to have surfaced. Now Kim, who has been studying to be a lawyer but has paused her efforts recently, is trying to spread the word of his apparent innocence..
Kim first raised his case on January 26 after Sister Helen Prejean told her about it. She felt it was important and said on social media: "I heard about Ivan Cantu's case from Sister Helen Prejean and was really moved by it. [...] The time to act to save Ivan Cantu is now!"
The star posted another appeal on Instagram this weekend. She shared her first post on her Story, writing: "THE STATE WILL EXECUTE IVAN CANTU IN 4 DAYS."
She then explained the story of the false testimony in the original case and told people how they can help before it's too late. She urged her followers: "The time to act to save Ivan Cantu is now!" She also shared a link to a website set up to support his cause.
Kim also talked about how Texas now has a team that checks if convictions are fair. This team is making prosecutors realise that they've made mistakes in some cases. Cantu was found guilty for murders that happened in November 2000. He says a rival drug dealer to Mosqueda set him up for the deaths.
He also said the police took "witness statements and testimony at face value and didn't care to investigate the claims," which he says led to "false and untruthful information to create a fraudulent narrative" that led to his conviction.
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