(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is not the Republican National Convention, and they are not responsible for nominating Donald Trump to be a candidate for President of the United States. That's the message they want to get across on Twitter.Because, while the police department's Twitter handle is pretty obvious — @RNC_PoliceNL — the confusion stems from the fact that there is no RNC Twitter account (the party uses @GOPConvention) and that's led many disgruntled Americans to fire their 140 characters of fury at the first account to pop up.
The constabulary, which handles policing across Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada's easternmost province, really wants the online abuse to end.And so begins all the mis-mentions to us because of the 'RNC' Convention in Cleveland this week! ???? — RNC (Police) (@RNC_PoliceNL)July 18, 2016
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That likely meant headaches for whoever runs the police department's Twitter account, but they eventually took the wave of vitriol in stride.One Twitter egg concluded that the police agency, which boasts 420 sworn officers, "have traded votes for common decency, respect, conservatism and constitutionalism."Another account told the force, which dates back to 1841, that "I knew your convention was gonna be a shit show but this is unreal."
In a spot of irony, the constabulary's Twitter account went back-and-forth from answering Tweets intended for the organizers of the Republican convention — where a last-ditch effort to purge the party's anti-gay positions from its official platform failed — to promoting a local pride festival in western Labrador, a rural area of just a few thousand people.
Canadians have, thus far, done a fairly good job of staying far away from the acrimonious convention in Cleveland.Two prominent Canadian Conservatives — one, a prominent lobbyist and activist; the other, a Member of Parliament who has announced his intention to run for premier of Alberta — both said that they declined invitations to go to the convention.