Ex-LAPD Cop's Rampage Brings Out Dark Side of Social Media

Social media can be an extremely powerful platform for positive causes.  But there are days when I grow increasingly cynical about the impacts of Facebook and Twitter, and I have admittedly been known to refer to them as a “sewage pit” on such days.

After reading the following post in reference to the murders of three people at the hands of ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, and after perusing Twitter throughout the day, this has been one of those days.

Fan pages pop up on Facebook to support fugitive ex-LAPD cop 

Earlier tonight, my attention was also drawn to a few users on Twitter who were encouraging violence against law enforcement officers in the wake of Dorner’s actions.  One user even referred to an anti-police brutality protest in progress in California and directed Dorner to that location to find additional targets.  I won’t link to the tweets or call out the users specifically, because I am sensitive to the fact that there are plenty of irresponsible people online who might retaliate against those Twitter users in equally inappropriate ways.

Regardless of your political beliefs or your stance on the actions and behavior of police in general, nothing justifies encouraging the murder of law enforcement officers and members of their families.

There is something deeply wrong with the culture in our society when people openly embrace the actions of a man who thought that murdering other human beings in cold blood was an appropriate response to his problems.

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