Woodbury Police have unraveled a bogus Facebook posting with racist overtones.
A false report on social media — that three Black men were abducting a woman — sparked social media attacks against police this week. The postings were disturbing enough for Woodbury mayor Anne Burt to respond with a note on the city website.
The episode began Monday, when the report of the abduction appeared on social media, according to police. No one reported the abduction to the Woodbury police, according to Police Commander John Altman.
Hours later, a woman called police from a location near St. John’s Drive and Water Lily Lane — close to the place where the social media posting claimed the kidnapping occurred. Police arrived, and determined she was upset by a group of men having a loud argument nearby.
Police said that no crime had occurred, and didn’t arrest anyone. According to mayor Burt, the woman who called Monday evening “did nothing wrong, did not file a false report, and there was no racial motivation behind the complaint.”
Police were able to contact the person who made the original false report of the kidnapping. She explained that she was trying to warn the public about a crime she had heard about from someone else, according to Altman. Posting such a warning on Facebook is not a crime, he said.
Meanwhile, conversations unfolded on social media. Some began to take racist overtones, and others accused the police of racism. A Facebook posting — again, from an unknown person — popped up accusing the police a slow response to the supposed kidnapping.
It said that “residents stated that they were going to arm themselves and form watch groups to seek the alleged perpetrators and protect their neighborhoods.”
On the city website Mayor Burt wrote: “It’s important to remind you that if/when there is a reported abduction in Woodbury, formal communication will be shared through official law enforcement and/or city communications channels, not by individuals in private Facebook groups.”
Most of the postings have been taken down, according to police.
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July 31, 2020 at 04:30AM
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Bogus social media claim draws response from Woodbury officials - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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