Users hijack hashtag meant to portray cops as good guys
Adan Salazar
Infowars.com
April 24, 2014
This week, the New York Police Department learned the hard way that social media campaigns can backfire if not properly thought-out, and now users around the world have taken a cue and started their own hashtags calling out the LAPD, Greek and Spanish police and even Mexico’s law enforcement on their sometimes brutal tactics.
On Tuesday, the NYPD social media relations team believed it had devised a brilliant plan to lift their public relations persona. They started the hashtag #MyNYPD and asked people to submit photos of themselves with officers.
They wanted photos like this:
#myNYPD pic.twitter.com/RuKf9L2YNw
— Feeer . g (@MaFernandaG) April 24, 2014
Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook. pic.twitter.com/mE2c3oSmm6
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 22, 2014
@NYPDnews #myNYPD #MyBrother #YankeeStadium pic.twitter.com/lNpITeJrtT
— JP Quinn (@JPQ904) April 22, 2014
But instead of tweeting cheerful, wholesome pics of cops just being normal people, users spun the propaganda campaign and began tweeting pics of cops in various action poses assaulting members of the public.
This is what they got instead:
LOOK AT THIS PHOTO! The sad death of Kimani Gray, etc. Sadhbh Walshe http://t.co/LBp5SMojgZ via @guardian pic.twitter.com/764jeRC4AO
— Joyce Jeffries (@MsRock4Ever) April 13, 2013
#myNYPD pic.twitter.com/xlWkhrHZ9k
— Rami (@RamiSafadi93) April 22, 2014
Oh yano just holding a gun to every citizen and calling it security. #MyNYPD pic.twitter.com/KXjEwrrH1k
— Kyle Babb (@TMG_17) April 22, 2014
Scooters and #myNYPD pic.twitter.com/ImtLm8aQvR
— Adrian Kinloch (@adriankinloch) April 22, 2014
You might not have known this, but the NYPD can help you with that kink in your neck. #myNYPD pic.twitter.com/NTfCZstunT
— Bardock Obama (@TheBardockObama) April 23, 2014
Twitter is so beautiful at times like these <3 #myNYPD pic.twitter.com/oKezimjebU
— Ancilla Tilia (@ncilla) April 22, 2014
#MyLAPD LAPD chase a man down shoot him in the back and then EXECUTE him pic.twitter.com/V6GqhVLEfv
— Ron Solo (@R0NS0L02) April 23, 2014
NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told NY Daily News he “kind of [welcomed] the attention,” marveling at the traffic the trend was generating, stating, “We really broke the numbers yesterday.”
Bratton wasn’t too concerned because “Most of the pictures I looked at, they’re old news,” and because “They’ve been out there for a long time.” He added that “Often times police activities are lawful, but look awful.”
By Wednesday, users were redirecting their frustration towards the Los Angeles Police Department, starting the hastag trend #MyLAPD, and filling it with similar photos.
“It’s an opportunity for people apparently to vent about how they feel about the Police Department or to bring up things that people perceive that we did wrong in the past,” LAPD Commander Andrew Smith told KTLA.
Here are some of the photos being tagged #MyLAPD:
#myLAPD shooting a brother in the back on their lunch break…it really happened. pic.twitter.com/WyFzQsGAgf
— LA CAN (@LACANetwork) April 23, 2014
#myLAPD picked up Kim Nguyen in K-town, assaulted her and threw her out of the car door when they were done pic.twitter.com/pTGHcrLIzB
— peace is illegal (@idealovindara) April 23, 2014
"@LACANetwork: #myLAPD at MacArthur Park on #MayDay 2007. pic.twitter.com/pSp2DE33gK"I remember this shit
— KILLA BEE (@spacemannasita) April 23, 2014
#myLAPD #myNYPD #myFPD #FTP #RIP #Kellythomas pic.twitter.com/GxxItJJAp8
— Anonymous (@d0ubl3Dr4n0n) April 23, 2014
#myLAPD has a world renowned model of policing people with mental illness…in practice it looks like this. pic.twitter.com/0sX504mRoR
— LA CAN (@LACANetwork) April 23, 2014
The trend has even spread to other parts of the world to places like Greece, Mexico and Spain where outrageous military police state tactics are frequent.
@YourAnonNews To quote the Beatles 'Come together, right now…' pic.twitter.com/K1z1NW7LX6
— Rudy Bucher (@Ruderealism) April 24, 2014
@chriscooreman #myELAS #PNationale FR pic.twitter.com/qHWLm2vC6v
— th anonymous (@ori_no_co) April 24, 2014
#myELAS #myNYPD
Greek police beating knowledge into a university student's head. pic.twitter.com/tiTpdccD0o
— konel_vlachar (@konel_valar) April 23, 2014
This is in Mexico…#MiPoliciaMexicana What about YOUR police? #myELAS #myNYPD #myLAPD #MiPolicia #DankePolizei pic.twitter.com/NaRiBJzSMN
— YoSoy132Múnich (@YoSoy132Munich) April 23, 2014
#MiPoliciaMexicana #MyGranaderosMX #myNYPD pic.twitter.com/wpYXRWBaNG
— YoSoy132InterNtional (@132extranjero) April 24, 2014
Truth be told, the NYPD should likely have anticipated the ensuing reaction from a police corruption-weary public. No telling how long their PR disaster will continue to linger.
Considering the extent Twitter has been used to organize protests, it’s no wonder the social media giant is considering eliminating hashtags.
I bet #myLAPD is pissed off at the #myNYPD PR stunt that backfired right now! Apparently the police love affair sold to us is FAKE!
— LA CAN (@LACANetwork) April 23, 2014
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