Satire, Police Protests, and The Rhino Times

The editor of a conservative weekly is taking responsibility for a piece of satire that led to online outrage against the Greensboro police department. 

John Hammer wrote a column depicting officers making a violent arrest in a Greensboro park. It was intended to lampoon the city's policy of requiring a permit to take photographs in some of its public gardens. The problem is that many readers aren't taking it as a joke.

The column appeared in last week's edition of The Rhino Times. The fictional Irish couple didn't notice a sign prohibiting photography in the park and are arrested for taking pictures.

The sign is real, but the arrest was not. Susan Danielson is the department's public information officer. She says the column contained a lot of details which added to its believability.

“A lot of people didn't pick up on the satire and have been posting some very negative comments about the Greensboro Police Department,” she says.

Danielson lamented the timing of the article. It comes as police nationwide are dealing with protests over what many see as a pattern of strong-arm police tactics.

"It just comes at a bad time in our nation and locally to open up a wound of perceived abuse of power or excessive use of force," she says.

Hammer says he thought the column was outrageous enough that people wouldn't take it seriously.

"I think the Greensboro Police do a great job and I certainly didn't mean to cause them problems and I'm sorry I've had their phones ringing of the hooks the last couple of days," he says.

The Rhino Times has added an editor's note at the top of the article clarifying that it is meant to be satirical and no Irish couple was arrested.

Danielson says even with the new disclaimer, complaints from the public are still coming in.