Niagara police chief warns in opposition to misinformation following Rainbow Bridge crash | EUROtoday

The Niagara Region’s chief of police has warned in regards to the risks of misinformation, following the crash on the Rainbow Bridge border crossing on Wednesday.

Bryan MacCulloch mentioned that though the incident was shortly confirmed to be non-terrorist associated, hypothesis within the mainstream media and on-line had precipitated “significant and unnecessary anxiety” inside the area people.

Following the blast, which occurred the day earlier than Thanksgiving, a number of right-wing media retailers and politicians have been compelled to backtrack on claims that the crash was linked to terrorism, with some having blamed president Joe Biden’s border insurance policies for the incident.

A Fox News report had cited “high-level police sources” who linked terrorism to the crash and believed the 2 individuals travelling within the automobile packed it “full of explosives,” a declare the community later retracted.

Senator Ted Cruz additionally claimed the incident was a terror assault, tweeting: “This confirms our worst fear: the explosion at Rainbow Bridge was a terrorist attack.”

Florida congressman Byron Donalds wrote in a since-deleted X put up: “Open borders, soft-on-crime policies, and bending a knee to the woke PC mob.”

“Today’s apparent terrorist attack must be a wake-up call to all Americans. Now—more than ever—we need a change in leadership in our nation,” he mentioned.

Nearby Buffalo airport was briefly shut to worldwide flights following the crash, however was later reopened, as have been the border crossings. New York Governor Kathy Hochul confirmed in a information convention that there was “no sign of terrorism” within the incident.

Addressing the Niagara Region Police Services Board on Thursday, Mr MacCulloch mentioned: “We saw an immense amount of misinformation and speculation on both mainstream and social media platforms, which created significant and unnecessary anxiety in the community.”

He later advised CBC Hamilton: “I think what we saw on Wednesday was really the speed at which misinformation [spreads] in today’s environment of social media and how quickly it can spiral.”

Mr MacCulloch didn’t check with any particular piece of msinformation or outlet, however referenced claims of an assault, that the automobile had come from Canada, and that the automobile was stuffed with explosives.

“None of that information was accurate. None of it was corroborated. Yet that didn’t stop individuals, and in some cases media outlets, from putting that information out,” he mentioned.

“We have four international bridge crossings here in the Niagara Region that lead into the United States and [I think] their closing [out of] an abundance of caution added to that fear and anxiety that there was the potential for another attack when in fact, there wasn’t an original attack.”

Police have mentioned beforehand that it’ll take some time for the true reason behind the crash to be established. 3D scanners are at present getting used to assist recreate a “digital crash site” and knowledge from the automobile’s Event Data Recorder – much like an plane’s “black box” – can be being investigated.

“I know that there’s an intense drive to get information, and ask people to be patient and wait for accurate information coming from a trusted official source,” Mr MacCulloch mentioned.