Public Enemy member Professor Griff has denied he knows Dallas shooter Micah Johnson after a photo of the two became widely circulated across the Internet.

Griff issued a statement through his personal Twitter account to set the record straight about Johnson, who killed five police officers and injured seven others in Dallas during a protest centered on police brutality last week.

"I will not sit back and let these people assassinate my character and tie me to the Dallas shootings," Griff tweeted. "As you seek to detained Me and or arrest me, I will not sit idle and watch you frame me. The police and FBI have been watching me and tapping my phone they know who I talk too," Professor Griff wrote. "I DO NOT KNOW THE SHOOTER."

As Dallas police searched for the motive of Micah Johnson's actions, they found the picture of him and Professor Griff on Facebook.

"The suspect’s Facebook account included the following names and information: Fahed Hassen, Richard Griffin aka Professor Griff," a police statement read. "Griffin embraces a radical form of Afrocentrism, and Griffin wrote a book A Warriors Tapestry."

Professor Griff has reportedly received death threats as a result of his name being connected to the shooter. Griff's fellow Public Enemy member Chuck D criticized the media for spreading the photo and creating misinformation.

"The media grouping this person in a pic w @GRIFFTHENME was sadly unacceptable," Chuck D wrote. "Artists athletes & Lecturers take thousands of PHONEpics today."

Professor Griff has continued to distance himself from the Dallas shooter on social media. He also began using the hashtag #HANDSOFFGRIFF for some posts.

20 Albums Turning 10 in 2016

More From XXL