Brussels went into lockdown this weekend as authorities carried out a series of counter-terrorism raids across the city. They are searching for a suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, and have had the nation under the highest posslble level of terror alert since Sunday.
The public were specifically asked not to report police movements on social media so as not to aide the terrorist suspects in any way. So instead, in true Internet fashion, they posted pictures of cats.
Par sécurité, veuillez respecter le silence radio sur les médias sociaux concernant les opérations de police en cours à #Bruxelles. Merci
— Police Fédérale (@PolFed_presse) November 22, 2015
“For security, please respect the radio silence on social media concerning the police operations underway in Brussels. Thanks.”
#BrusselsLockdown began trending on Twitter, with users sharing funny photos and memes of cats. Their intention was apparently to create comedy from a serious situation while respecting the wishes of the police and clogging up the Twitter feeds of any potential terrorists with useless photos of their feline companions.
Take a look at some of the best below, via Twitter.
Not tweeting 'bout the raids, fine, I'm tweeting 'bout my cat #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/ekW6HIP4Rc
— JoFe (@JoFeys) November 23, 2015Being careful to observe what's going on with the #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/AAcTcH0UE2
— Whispmi21 (@whispmi21) November 23, 2015Stay safe. #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/Yb3aAF1SlY
— Rad123 (@Tombx7M) November 23, 2015May the force be with us. #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/m9OuEVhfXS
— TineEeckhout (@TineEeckhout) November 22, 2015
Stay inside they said. #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/hpAfV417Hf
— Julia Reda (@Senficon) November 22, 2015
