Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is dealing with backlash after she posted a photograph of a person she falsely described as a campus shooter following studies of an lively capturing on the College of South Carolina’s campus on Sunday.
The college despatched out an alert Sunday round 6:30 p.m. to its college students and employees about an lively shooter who had been reportedly seen close to the Thomas Cooper Library.
Faculty officers initially described the suspect as “6 ft tall white male with black pants” in an alert.
Mace, whose baby attends the college, warned in a since-deleted put up Sunday that the “alleged shooter” was a “white male” sporting “black shorts, grey t-shirt, backpack,” in accordance with a number of retailers. Alongside the put up, she included a photograph of a person strolling on campus with an object in his hand.
However that picture was by no means launched by police, and it turned on the market was by no means a shooter in any respect.
One other college alert despatched out round 7:10 p.m. stated there was no proof of an lively shooter, although police have been nonetheless looking out the realm. The lively shooter studies turned out to be a part of a swatting hoax, a faculty spokesperson later advised CNN.
The person within the photograph that Mace shared was later decided to be holding an umbrella.
Although there was no gunfire, the false studies prompted panic. Faculty officers confirmed that a number of college students have been handled by first responders for minor accidents that occurred throughout evacuation.
And Mace’s faulty picture sparked outrage from some social media customers for the way it contributed to the scenario.
Proper-wing commentator Matt Walsh mocked Mace, sarcastically writing, “Really grateful for Nancy Mace. She bravely alerted the public to the dangers of a guy carrying an umbrella.”
One other X consumer known as out Mace for being “irresponsible,” writing, “She deleted it but my God how irresponsible can Nancy Mace be?”
Another person argued that Mace’s sharing of the photograph may’ve turned lethal.
“South Carolina police say there is no shooter on the campus of USC. The image shared by @NancyMace was obtained from X, and was of a student carrying an umbrella,” they wrote. “The image was not released by law enforcement or an official authority, and could have resulted in him being killed.”
A separate consumer slammed Mace for by no means apologizing for her harmful mistake.
“If you thought Nancy Mace was going to apologize after spending her day falsely accusing a kid with an umbrella of being a school shooter, you thought wrong,” they wrote.
Mace adopted up her X put up by calling the incident a “terrifying experience.”
“Real, or a hoax, or a mistake, now would be an appropriate time to talk about hardened security at schools of all grades, colleges and universities,” she wrote Sunday. “This was a terrifying experience for students on campus and their families.
Mace added: “Many are confused after being told there was an active shooter. Some are even afraid to return.”
A spokesperson for Mace didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s request for remark.
In a separate put up, Mace stated she had been “frantically calling” her baby, who attends the college, through the incident. She additionally thanked regulation enforcement for his or her “fast” and “professional” response.
