Police ‘ebola meth’ joke on Facebook leads to arrest
In Granite Shoals, Texas, one such post, labelled a “Breaking News Alert”, was shared thousands of times. It even netted an arrest.
Police say threats about “ebola meth” are a fun, harmless sting they set up to catch criminals in the act, even if the joke alludes to what was once an actual global public health crisis. But some advocates said the posts run the risk of degrading trust in law enforcement and public health authorities.
And in the case of Granite Shoals, the local district attorney questioned whether the post might alarm people who don’t use drugs, but might think a deadly virus is present in their community.
“I think there’s some collateral issues that you have to consider before you use a sting,” said Sonny McAfee, district attorney for Burnet County, Texas.
Mitch Bratton, chief of the Grayson, Louisiana, police department, which posted a similar item on Facebook, said several people did call to find out whether any drugs were contaminated by Ebola.
“It opened the door for us to talk about the dangers of meth,” he said, adding in his town, “meth is most definitely a lot bigger problem than any chance of ebola”.
