On Thursday, September 11, misinformation that spread like wildfire caused mass panic at the U.S. Naval Academy and a midshipman was shot.
The panic spread well beyond the walls of the USNA so this wasn’t an isolated issue that can be fixed solely by the USNA and/or NSA Annapolis leadership, but that would be a good place to start.
The sequence of events started when midshipmen and others began spreading a rumor that started on social media about a disgruntled, former midshipman that returned to campus with a gun.
A local Facebook page that specializes in reports of mostly vehicle accidents and crime reported, “THREE REPORTED DOWN BY COMMAND | LOCKDOWN UNDERWAY | This is not a drill | UPDATE WHEN AVAILABLE | Avoid the USNA to include the NAVAL STATION | At 6:13 PM.”
What command? That’s rhetorical (no need to answer). The only commands that should’ve been quoted are the Naval Support Activity (NSA) Annapolis and/or the USNA. Period. Full stop.
NSA Annapolis put out a Facebook post, which was shared by the USNA, that stated, “Naval Support Activity Annapolis, in coordination with local law enforcement, is currently responding to reports of threats made to the Naval Academy. The base is on lockdown out of an abundance of caution. This is a developing situation and we will provide updates as they become available.”
That Facebook post proved not to be nearly good enough.
Despite the information shared by the only sources that should’ve mattered to media and the public, the unsubstantiated rumor continued to sweep across the nation and beyond.
Fox News reported, ” … the U.S. Naval Academy is on lockdown after a midshipman who had been kicked out of the school has returned to campus armed with a weapon, multiple sources inside the U.S. Naval Academy tell Fox News.”
The Fox News report went to all of its affiliates and misinformation was amplified across the world, further scaring not just midshipmen, but their loved ones too, anyone that lives close to the USNA and others who feared there was another mass shooting happening.
At some point, a midshipman and a law enforcement officer (currently unclear if it’s a Navy master-at-arms or outside law enforcement) came across one another – that’s when things went from bad to worse.
According to The New York Times, “Amid the initial chaos and confusion on campus, the midshipman mistook a law enforcement officer for the shooter and struck him in the head with a parade rifle. The law enforcement officer then fired at the midshipman, wounding him in the arm, the officials said.”
Both are expected to recover.
A news organization that spreads misinformation can be held liable if injuries are caused because of it.
It’s much like yelling, “fire,” in a crowded theater.
In other words, it’s critical to get the story right.
The person that posted the rumor on social media could face criminal charges, as well as civil suits.
This is all being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and other law enforcement, according to the USNA.
How did all of this go so wrong?
First, there’s some context which is very important. The day before the misinformation event at the USNA happened, there were at least two other shootings that happened – one that killed Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah and another that happened at a high school in Colorado resulting in two students being injured by the gunman who killed himself.
Then came a string of false reports of active shooters on college campuses.
Tension was very high in the U.S., especially on college campuses.
With the USNA story happening, news sites seemed to have trouble getting factual answers from the right people.
If something is happening on a federal facility, such as the USNA, there might be a lot of agencies responding and not just federal, but it’s only the federal agencies and specifically, their public information officers (PIOs) that should be addressing the public and answering media questions.
Fox cited “multiple sources,” which is not reassuring – a PIO or other media representative for the USNA or NSA Annapolis would use their name.
The Navy Times article used an unnamed source and stated, “The official spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely about an ongoing investigation.”
Where was the PIO for the USNA or NSA Annapolis? Where was anyone from the Navy that is supposed to be handling communications?
In an emergency and thereafter, the public needs reassurance from a real person who uses their name from that federal agency – not an unnamed source.
Even after the governor of Maryland talked to media and issued a statement confirming there was no credible threat, some people continued sharing misinformation and insisted the governor was wrong.
The New York Times article illuminates what may have happened.
The article states, “About 20 minutes later, Capt. David S. Forman, a school official, said in an email to midshipmen that there were no confirmed reports of gunfire and cautioned against making unconfirmed reports.”
Midshipmen are not authorized to speak on behalf of the USNA unless prearranged and only for a specified reason – media should know that.
If people that are not allowed to speak on behalf of the USNA were and the people that were supposed to be speaking on behalf the USNA weren’t, that’s a big problem.
The lack of communications from the USNA public information office or NSA Annapolis to media, along with midshipmen communicating misinformation to media, would certainly fuel mass panic.
The Navy needs to address this and not just within its own confines – the public deserves to know what went wrong and what’s being done to address the communication failures so it doesn’t happen again.
What role did the public play in this?
The internet has made so many of us want and expect instant answers to whatever questions we have – especially if it’s something happening close to us.
Not everyone knows to check the social media accounts of the NSA Annapolis or the USNA so they’ve come to rely on other social media pages for news that isn’t always right.
Police scanners are now encrypted so we no longer have instant answers about a lot that happens.
Even with scanners, information requires verification from the right sources.
We have so many news entities now – not all of them are staffed with people that know how to, or don’t want to, call sources and verify information.
Those reading unverified news reports might not know it’s someone posting news that isn’t verified, they share the misinformation, then their Facebook friend shares it and so on.
Media literacy should be taught in schools from a very young age all the way through to graduation, but it’s not. Also at senior centers. It’s every bit as important as reading, writing and math.
Not knowing how to separate fact from fiction is becoming more difficult and it will continue to because of artificial intelligence (AI).
Before you post on social, do you research what you’re sharing? Do you care if it’s truthful?
Is the source of that social media post you’re sharing a bot farm? AI? Russia? North Korea? China? Is it meant to further divide us politically?
Too much depends on all of us knowing how to tell fact from fiction.
We know how disinformation can be used a weapon, that it can undermine democracy, cause wars, further divisions, create instability and so on.
Misinformation can also cause harm – it’s extremely fortunate that nobody was killed at the USNA.
For lack of a better term, this was a $hitshow and the Navy needs to let us all know how it happened and that it won’t happen again.
Donna L. Cole is an award-winning investigative and multimedia reporter. She’s also a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
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Update and correction – to be clear, the timeline on what happened when is unclear. The word “then” was corrected to “At some point” in the sentence “At some point, a midshipman and a law enforcement officer (currently unclear if it’s a Navy master-at-arms or outside law enforcement) came across one another – that’s when things went from bad to worse.”
We apologize for any confusion this caused.