A phony Facebook post created by a Central Texas police department has gone viral. The post, which went up last Tuesday on the Granite Shoals Police Department Facebook page, warned that “meth and heroin recently brought in to Central Texas as well as the ingredients used to make it” could be contaminated with the Ebola virus.
The fake news alert urged those who recently purchased meth or heroin in the area to “please take it to the local police or sheriff department so it can be screened with a special device.”
Granite Shoals Police Department/Facebook
At first, people weren’t sure what to think. Two days later, the department announced that it had nabbed its first “concerned citizen,” Chasity Hopson, who came to the police believing her meth could be contaminated. GSPD posted her booking photo and full name on Facebook, as promised. (The booking photo has since been deleted from the page.) The meth was seized and Hopson now faces drug charges, News 4 San Antonio reports.
“Our officers gladly took the item for further testing,” the post read. The department also repeated the Ebola warning and encouraged people to “continue to report any possibly tainted methamphetamine or other narcotics” to GSPD, apparently hoping to snag another gullible user. “Public health and safety continue to remain our #1 priority.”
By Monday, the story had exploded online, eliciting both glee and disdain from social media users. GSPD once again went on Facebook to explain that the post was supposed to be a joke. “Looks like about 99% of our followers got it,” wrote Sgt. Chris Decker on Monday. “However, there were a few that thought we (GSPD) were being ‘unprofessional’ by posting something of humorous nature.” Decker went on to explain that law enforcement is “one of the best and worst careers to have“ that has the highest rate of suicide, divorce and substance abuse—the post was intended to express the department’s sense of humor.
All posts related to Ebola-tainted meth and heroin were removed from the department’s Facebook page on Monday, probably due to the barrage of negative feedback left on its page. To be fair, many also came to its defense.
This particular commenter may have said it best: “Come to Granite Shoals, we can make fun of addicts, homeless, poor, etc. Post it on Facebook, go viral. It’ll be great!” He continued: “To be clear, the original post had some humor in it. Most people could tell it was a clever joke, in an attempt to get a chuckle. Likely even the police department didn’t expect anyone to fall for it…[But] you guys crossed the line when you gloated about it, and posted pictures online. You could have quietly helped this person.”
