Austin PD Brags About Dozens Of Support Letters They Got, People Call Them Out For Lying (Updated)

It’s only natural that police all over the US are going through some hard times amidst the Black Lives Matter protests that sprung up after George Floyd was killed by police during an arrest in Minneapolis. Furthermore, violent police response during the protests has been a massive topic nowadays as well.

In light of these events, it only seems logical that people would turn their backs on the police and throw their support towards the other side—the victims of police violence and those who protest against it.

However, the Austin Police Department seems to be unaffected by the ongoing crisis and is getting more support than ever before. Are they really, though? After they shared a photo collage of dozens of thank-you cards and support letters on Twitter, people noticed immediately that something wasn’t adding up. Turns out, most of the letters were written in the same handwriting. Furthermore, they didn’t even bother to add stamps and addresses on the envelopes and people couldn’t stop laughing.

Update: Austin PD explained that two people, who delivered the cards, have written “Thank You” all over them. “Many of you have inquired about the cards that were posted on our social media pages,” Austin PD wrote to Gizmodo. “The cards were from several community members to include kindergartners and Austin families, who wanted to show support for APD officers. Two people, who organized delivering the cards in person, addressed the envelopes with a “Thank you,” so our officers would open the notes to receive encouragement during these difficult times. That is why the front of the envelopes appear to have the same handwriting.”

While police in the US are experiencing hard times and have little support since George Floyd was killed by police and protests have sprung into action all over the country, Austin PD claims to have their neighborhood’s support. Despite news spreading that a college student was shot by Austin police and suffered brain damage, on Saturday, June 6th, they shared images of dozens of thank-you cards and envelopes with support letters on Twitter. Many of the short notes read “Thank you,” “We are thankful for all you do,” and “U R appreciated.” But people shortly noticed that the text wasn't the only thing most of them had in common. Most of the notes seen in the photos shared by Austin PD seem to be written in the same handwriting as well.

In the Twitter post shared by Austin PD, a black officer and a white officer are seen happily reading the cards. After seeing the post, many people were convinced all the letters were forged. “Damn, everyone in Austin has the same handwriting. Public schools must be amazing out there,” someone tweeted. Other mistakes were pointed out as well: “And why no postage? How did they even get them…?” said another tweet.

An Austin-based woman named Maryl agreed to share her insights on the situation in Austin, but wished for her last name not to be revealed. She voiced her disbelief that the police “would have the guts to pull off something like that when two incidents happened during the last weeks involving shooting someone. A teenage boy was shot in the head last week and experienced brain damage, but police don’t seem too eager to have justice for that. I should be able to take my kids to these historic demonstrations. But I can't. Not because of the protesters, but because of them,” she said. “Austin PD is the violent threat at these protests,” she added.