Cop’s job threatened for tweet supporting Dana White vs Anonymous
After hackers attacked UFC.com over the company’s support of anti-piracy SOPA legistlation, UFC President Dana White got into an extended dialogue…
After hackers attacked UFC.com over the company’s support of anti-piracy SOPA legistlation, UFC President Dana White got into an extended dialogue on twitter. Supporters and detractors of added their thtoughts, including Richmond, CA police Sgt. Mike Rood, who wrote with obvious hyperbole “Get those hacking (expletive). I’m a cop in the bay area CA. I would go at them with both guns!”
Now public outcry over the tweet has sparked a police investigation, as detailed by The San Jose Mercury News.
Give the widespread use of gun metaphors in public life, and the insignificance of tweeting, the regative reaction to the tweet is a form of extraordinary popular delusion.
Mitt Romney after winning in NH last week:
“I’m ready for all guns blazing at me.”
The Richmond Police Department locked public posts to its Facebook page Tuesday after a flood of angry comments about a Twitter comment an officer made about Internet hackers.
Posts there and at the Contra Costa Times Facebook page criticize the officer for his Jan. 26 tweet about a hacker attack on a website belonging to Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The hacker group Anonymous and its supporters viewed the comment as a criminal threat, and called for the department to punish Rood. Rood could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
“In his tweet, he expresses his desire to use firearms to deal with problematic people,” several posters wrote on the Contra Costa Times’ Facebook page, apparently copying a form letter. “I fear for the safety of the citizens of Richmond after seeing such irresponsible action displayed by one of its very own police officers.”
“We are well aware of the response people have had to the situation,” Richmond police Capt. Mark Gagan said. “We are opening an investigation, and we will get to the bottom of it. If there were policy violations, we will deal with it appropriately.”