Following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer last week, Washington Police Chief Jim Lester is warning residents to watch for false posts on social media. At Tuesday’s Washington City Council meeting, Lester said they’d received reports of false posts inciting violence, “You know, several rural areas are being targeted with what they’re calling ‘misinformation campaigns’ and it’s encouraging criminal activity. It’s all false. Other agencies have reported where social media has put out messages urging people to gather in groups at certain locations, and no leader shows up to run those things. What they’re doing is trying to get those large groups to form hoping that they’ll incite, you know, a local violent reaction. So, we put some messages out trying to get everyone to notify us if they see those things, and to not share that information on social media. Don’t try to fuel the fire with that.” Lester advises people to contact local law enforcement if they see something and are concerned.

Lester applauded local officers for the work they do, “We have some of the best officers here in this police department that I’ve worked with in 30 years. And you know, they’re professional and I can’t say enough about their professionalism. You know, they deal with people at the worst time of their life. And they interact with members of our community in a professional manner. And the motto on the side of our patrol unit ‘Serving with Pride’ is very evident in their daily activity. What happened to George Floyd was wrong. And those people responsible for that will suffer the consequences for their actions or their inactions.”

He added that Washington has the best community support for local law enforcement that he’s experienced in his 30 years wearing a badge. Lester says he will continue to serve our community with pride.