Last night, a guy whom I’ve not heard of because I don’t Instagram regularly, who goes by the name of Whiskey_warrior_556 went live on Instagram and claimed the cops were there, at his house, trying to serve a red flag order to get a 30 round P-mag from him. That was all it took for internet gun guys to lose their freaking minds and start asking people to literally go to the location and “help” the guy.
Turns out, Whiskey_warrior_556, whose real name is Alexander Booth, was lying out of his ass. The cops were not there to enforce a red flag law, they were there to arrest Booth for a warrant. You see, Booth and his wife are separated, and at some point in the recent past, Booth and his wife had a domestic violence incident. The cops had a warrant for his arrest based on that prior incident. Booth knew this is why there were there, because according to him, he was in contact with the cops via the phone.
Sadly, several people whom I respect, and a couple I am even friends with, fell for Booth’s lies hook, line and sinker, and they lost it. Facebook pages and Instagram accounts of gun folks blew up! People were calling for militias to show up, for people to gear up and respond, and quite honestly, a scary number of people were talking about shooting cops.
Mr. Guns and Gear, who happens to be a former cop himself, literally suggested that people on scene shoot “the traitors” when referring to the cops on scene who were there to arrest a domestic violence suspect.
The militia folks, the three percenters, the cop blockers and cop haters, and the “patriots” all came out of the woodwork. Many seem to be chomping at the bit to start “the bugaloo.” Most of them stayed safely behind their keyboards screaming about “oath breakers” and “boot lickers,” but sadly, quite a few actually got into vehicles and headed toward a small New York town called Mahopac.
All of this over lies told by some drunk a-hole, who happens to be a veteran, who is reportedly suffering from PTSD, who apparently likes to smack around his soon to be ex-wife.
Absolutely none of this was helped by the horrible way the social media aspect was handled by the local agencies involved. They would post something, then delete it, and replace it with something else. Finally, a post describing the incident was posted, but later, it too was inexplicably deleted. The law enforcement social media message was incoherent at best.
Finally, hours after it was resolved, they posted something that finally stated why they were there. By that time it was too late. The conspiracy theory nuts were now present so everything to them is some sort of cover up. Some of these fools are suggesting Booth was likely killed by the cops, that the statements released are lies, that the media (who may I remind you, hates the cops) was lying to cover for the cops, and these tinfoil hat wearing window lickers are demanding “proof of life.”
Had this incident jumped off, it would have been just like the riots in Ferguson, MO – a huge wave of destruction, all based on a lie.
Everyone involved in this incident really needs to sit down and take a long, hard look at what happened last night, and I mean everyone!
From my perspective, some lying sack of crap nearly kicked off a gun fight between two different groups, both of which I am a member – the cops, and the gun rights supporters.
I am pissed as hell at Whiskey_warrior_556, and you should be too, no matter which group you fall into. We all need to learn something from this incident.
Law enforcement agencies need to learn how to deal with things on social media. And I mean absolutely MUST get better about how they deal with things on social media. It is no longer an option. Social media drives so many things today that it is dangerous for everyone to not know how to properly communicate the right message.
Social media gun folks, you really need to be careful about what you say, and who you support, especially those who you support without question. Is some random Instragram dude who you don’t even know in real life so reliable you are willing to start the next civil war based solely on his word? You may not realize it, but many of you have a significant amount of influence over a great many people. To quote Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility. Please exercise your influence responsibly.
And the rest of us. Just like any other situation, you need to slow down and take some time for the facts to come out. Like so many other previous incidents where the cops were involved, what is initially reported on social media turns out to not have been slightly close to reality. As a guy who detests red flag laws, and knows that they are in fact being enforced in some areas, I understand that many people are justifiably concerned about them. But running off and doing some really dumb stuff just because someone you don’t know said something on social media is, well, really dumb.
It quite honestly scares me to think just how bad this situation could have gone, and all based on lies told by some drunk guy who did not want to go to jail.
This could have been so very bad for everyone.
