Threatening Tweet Toward Police Has Some Worried
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) -- A tweet threatening a local police officer has some worried that patrol cars could become moving targets.
When Angie McMahan first moved to her neighborhood, seeing a police vehicle parked two doors down immediately made her feel safe, but seeing that same vehicle down the barrel of a rifle in a threatening tweet quickly gave her pause.
"To know that it was two doors down, yeah it can scare you a little bit," McMahan said.
Police arrested 17-year-old Montrae Toliver whom they say was responsible for the tweet of a rifle pointed at a patrol car in front of a home along with the caption, "Should I do it? They Don't Care For a Black Male Anyways."
Despite the threat, neighbor Khalid Elab likes having police close to him.
"I'm glad to have a police car parked all the time here. It's more safe. It's a deterrent also," Elab said.
But in the wake of two New York police officers being ambushed in their patrol car, could the sight of the vehicles go from deterrent to target?
"It is kind of in the back of your mind that it could," McMahan said.
At an afternoon news conference, Fort Worth officers were quick to downplay the twitter incident, saying they get threats on a weekly basis.
"From militia members, Aryan Brotherhood, from gang members, from cartels. This is just another threat that we're getting," Corporal Tracey Knight said.
That's why even McMahan says on the whole, she still feels safer being close to police.
"Now that I've seen this, it does make me think twice about it, but I still feel better with him being there than not," she said.
Despite threats like the one on that tweet, Fort Worth Police tell us there is no change in the take home vehicle policy.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:
