The Kent Police Department this week apologized and temporarily disabled its X.com (formerly Twitter) account after a controversial photo was accidentally reposted on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.
According to KIRO News:
“The accompanying photo shows two female soldiers, both holding automatic weapons, and one pointing her fingers and mimicking a gun at a man who is nearly nude, with his hands tied behind his back and blindfolded.”
Police claim that the repost occurred due to “human error” — a keyboard misclick. Once the mistake was recognized on Tuesday morning due to media coverage, the repost was immediately removed.
KIRO News contacted the Kent Police Department Tuesday afternoon regarding the incident. The department confirmed the accidental nature of the repost and explained that it had been removed as soon as the error was discovered. However, the department learned that deleted reposts might still appear on some users’ feeds until timelines are refreshed.
The X Help Center notes that “undoing a repost will remove it from other timelines; however, it may still appear on mobile devices displaying cached timelines.” To prevent further confusion, the department temporarily deactivated its X account.
The Kent Police Department emphasized that its X account is intended to share information about major incidents, departmental successes, and public safety issues. They clarified that the reposted content was unrelated to the department’s work and described the incident as an isolated mistake.
In response, the department is reviewing its internal processes to prevent similar errors in the future.
Here’s the full statement regarding this incident from Kent Police:
“On Monday, November 25, a photo was accidentally reposted to the Kent Police Department’s X account. The photo depicts two individuals in military uniform detaining a person with a caption that suggests the soldiers are IDF members and the individual being detained is a member of Hamas. The photo was reposted accidentally and was the result of human error – a miss-click of the keyboard. As soon as the error was recognized on Tuesday morning, the photo was removed.
“KIRO News first inquired about the report on Tuesday afternoon. The Police Department advised KIRO of the accidental nature of the post and the fact that it had been removed as soon as the error was discovered. The Department learned today that a post may remain in a person’s X feed until the feed is refreshed. The X Help Center states that “undoing a repost will remove it from other timelines, however it may still appear on mobile devices displaying cached timelines.” For this reason, the Police Department temporarily disabled its X account.
“The Kent Police Department X account is used to inform followers of major incidents, Department successes, and to warn individuals of safety issues. A review of past posts makes it evident that the post described above had no relation to the work of the Kent Police Department and was made in error.
“The Department is currently working to refine its process should an accidental post occur in the future.”
