Belgians Post Cat Pics All Over Social Media During Sunday Terrorism Raids
After Belgian police requested social media silence during a series of anti-terrorism raids in Brussels on Sunday, Twitter responded with the viral hashtag #BrusselsLockdown and hundreds of cat pictures.
It all started when Defense Minister Steven Vandeput requested that the public not report their movements, nor the location of police activities, on social media. Belgian police echoed Vandeput’s request, asking the public to observe “social media silence.”
Belgians obliged both requests, albeit in a manner neither Vandeput nor the police expected. That’s because #BrusselsLockdown went viral with pictures of cats, cat memes and other cat-related shenanigans.
It all began when Hugo Janssen, a Dutch television cameraman, tweeted a picture of his cat Mozart: “Instead of tweets about police activity in Brussels, here’s a picture of our cat Mozart.”
Others in Brussels, across Belgium and elsewhere in Europe followed suit, tweeting pictures of their cats or others’ cat memes instead of reporting on their activities.
#relax, Mes amis #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/LENxVUnnv9
— JaneAustenMaMaschio (@ExTimUpperClass) November 22, 2015
16 arrests were made during the raids. During a press conference, prosecutors’ spokesperson Eric Van Der Sypt thanked everyone for their social media silence.
No official comment was made during the presser about the trending hashtag and its accompanying photo gallery. However, Belgian police offered a friendly “thank you” to “all the cats who helped us” during the raids.
Pour les chats qui nous ont aidé hier soir… Servez-vous! #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/7O5ENF6nXa — Police Fédérale (@PolFed_presse) November 23, 2015
Check out the clip above, via France 24.
