The Changyuan police force in Henan Province attempted to clear rumors that they had beaten a female teacher recently by writing a post on Sina Weibo wherein they said that the video clip and photo didn't depict their officers by those of Bazhou, Hebei Province. Bazhou PD wasn't about to take that lying down, though, quickly shooting back and precipitating a flame war between the two.
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This farce all began when images of a teacher getting beaten by police officers during a 23 January demonstration started to circulate online online, ascribing the brutal behavior to Changyuan cops.
On January 25, police there said they had confirmed that both the photo and video footage were taken during a clampdown on a Bazhou pyramid scheme, stating authoritatively: “This is an illegal act and hostile attack on our image. Please do not be fooled by rumors.”
The post, however, did not clear the air as expected, and in fact only raised more questions.
Bazhou police responded on Weibo calling the post “a false accusation" and calling on citizens "not to be fooled.” Weibo user @livewater then pointed that the photo was taken in Xi’an when a woman attempted to block a local road. An officer in Changyuan then told reporters that although they were fully aware of the Xi'an case but did not want to embarrass their colleagues in the process of clearing their name.
Yet another twist occurred when a Xi'an policeman told reporters that no such case had happened there and they could not pin down the exact location where the images were shot.
The photo was originally posted on Tianya.cn on January 21, although this post has since been deleted. "Witnesses" claimed that this photo was taken when a real estate developer clashed with home-owners. The woman in red was agitated and supposedly kept tailing officers before being knocked down. However, police in neither Changyuan, Bazhou nor Xi'an have made any further comment.
[Images via Nandu]
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