Responsible Blogging Revisited — How Facebook Almost Created a Lynch Mob in Edinburg

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

I have often heard this said: Drunk people and children always tell the truth.

This is one of the biggest lies ever told.

There is a Facebook group called RGV: Truth & Justice. This page seems to be a social justice/political activist/community watchdog page that focuses on issues in Hidalgo County and the western part of the Rio Grande Valley. The page has over 27,000 followers. The page covers all kinds of stories, from things happening in Hidalgo County public schools, to Hidalgo County politics, and everything in between.

Yesterday, the page published a story about a bus driver for the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District. The story said the bus driver was refusing to let six middle school children off the bus; he did not want to drop the students off at their homes.

The story goes on to say a parent saw the driver drop off the majority of the children who were riding the bus. However, he kept eight of the sixth graders on the bus. The same parent claims the bus driver stopped in a dark neighborhood and turned his lights off, apparently to avoid being seen. 

According to the article posted, the bus driver refused to stop or speak to anybody who was trying to get his attention. Eventually, a student was able to reach his mother and the bus was able to be tracked. The driver was ordered to stop at a gas station where he was confronted by law enforcement.

One of the students on the bus said the driver was on his cell phone during the three hour ordeal and was overheard asking someone what he should do with the children.

The publisher of the article signed off saying the investigation was ongoing, the bus driver was allowed to go home, and they would keep people informed of any further developments. 

The article has over three thousand comments. In true uninformed lynch mob fashion, the angry hoardes were quick to reply. Some of the more colorful comments were:

- ...people are blind this is a part of human trafficking...

- ...now this will be one of my fears and to know better not to let my kids ride the bus.

- That's probably what happened to (child's name omitted) the other night when the bus driver took them way the hell to the outskirts!

- Why wasn't the bus driver arrested or taken i for questioning?

- This is very scary...

- edinburg (sic) bus system have (sic) always been s**t to be honest...

- Isn't this considered kidnapping or something...

Without knowing the whole story, thousands of people were ready to light their torches, grab their pitchforks and lanterns, and go on the hunt for the bus driver. It is apparent the mob wanted to hang him from the tallest tree in Edinburg.

Many of the people who were commenting were outraged and were casting blame at anybody and everybody without knowing what had really transpired.

Earlier this afternoon, an updated post was published providing further information on the situation. Under a large "CONFIRMED!" heading, the publishers of RGV: Truth & Justice stated the substitute bus driver was the subject of a cruel joke. Apparently, the students were feeding the bus driver false directions causing him to drive around looking for the students' houses. The students led their parents to think they were being kidnapped. 

This poor bus driver will forever be scarred by this terrible prank. Of all the support staff a school district has, the transportation department and bus drivers are often times treated very poorly, and this is a prime example. 

Some way, somehow this will all be blamed on the bus driver, and the students will get off scott-free with a slap on the wrist. The children and parents who were involved in this terrible situation will probably never be held accountable for what they did and encouraged. 

I don't know how many times I have to say this — it is a very bad idea to publish unconfirmed stories based on rumor and hearsay. The page in question has thousands of followers. The page could very easily influence public opinion and could have very easily made the outcome of the entire situation take an ugly turn had they identified the bus driver (it was bad enough they identified the bus number). 

The uninformed masses were already calling the bus driver a kidnapper, a human trafficker, and a dealer and harvester of black market organs. Who knows what they would have done to the driver had someone been able to find out who he was or where he lived. 

I have often heard stories of lynch mobs handing out justice in boom towns of the old west. We're very fortunate an update to this story was posted. I firmly believe we could have very well seen the emergence of lynch mob vigilante-style justice had the driver been identified. 

Apparently we're not that far removed from the old west after all. It seems technology and social media have given birth to a new version of the lynch mob.

Citizen journalists who operate with no journalistic integrity, morals, or scruples are navigating some very dangerous waters. 

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