The NYPD Learned A Very Valuable Lesson About Asking The Internet To Use A Twitter Hashtag

A request for pictures of members of the New York Police Department went horribly wrong. WARNING: This post contains graphic photos of alleged police brutality.

Updated — 6:56 p.m. ET

Today the NYPD asked Twitter users to post cute personal photos with NYPD officers.

Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook.

And for a while it worked pretty well.

@NYPDnews my photo from my ride along with the boys from the 90th pct #myNYPD

People were sharing nice pictures of NYPD officers just hanging out.

@NYPDnews #myNYPD #MyBrother #YankeeStadium

And that was nice... for about an hour...

Making friends @NYPDnews #mynypd ❤️

Until people started filling the #MyNYPD hashtag with photos of alleged police brutality.

Here the #NYPD engages with its community members, changing hearts and minds one baton at a time. #myNYPD

Every white shirt has to get in on the brutality, right @NYPDnews #myNYPD

And it doesn't appear to be slowing down.

A lot of Twitter users started finding photos of police officers from any city and tagging them with #myNYPD.

It turns out Twitter users had more than a few photos of NYPD officers looking less than friendly.

This should be featured on facebook RT @brotherguss #MyNYPD One of my favorites

"And we're going to have to run you over, just for good measure." #myNYPD

And then things got even worse when Occupy Wall Street's Twitter got involved.

Do you have a photo w/ a member of the #NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on their Facebook!

@OccupyWallStNYC #myNYPD keeping me safe by tackling me to the ground, punching me & arresting me (1)

Turns out not everyone is a huge fan of the NYPD.

NYPD crushing a black man's spine. He lost all sensation below his neck from this. #myNYPD

Yours truly. RT @NYPDnews: Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD.

So, the lesson here? Be careful what you ask for on the internet, I guess.

NO ONE MAKES ME BLEED MY OWN BLOOD. Well, except #myNYPD. They do that a lot.

An officer from Precinct 114 once ticketed me for doing this exact thing on the N train. #myNYPD

The NYPD issued a statement about #myNYPD and said Twitter provides an "open forum."

NYPD issues a statement regarding #myNYPD initiative.

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