‘A huge misunderstanding’ Campion College tennis coach apologises for controversial social media photo
Campion College tennis coach Rayne Russell said that the controversy he found himself in regarded as a supposed terror threat in the United States was what he describes as “a huge misunderstanding.”
Russell posted a photo of himself holding a high-powered rifle on Instagram with the Ultra Music Festival tagged in the caption.
Persons intending on attending the concert became fearful that Russell had been planning a mass shooting, similar to the one which occurred at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 1 last year, which left 58 dead and 851 injured.
According to the Florida police, Russell went to Miami for the festival and took the photo in Fort Lauderdale with a family member’s legally-owned guns.
After questioning Russell, they determined that there was no credible threat, but instead, a social media slip-up and a terrible lapse in judgement.
Russell, in a subsequent post, said “What happened within the last couple days was a huge misunderstanding. A picture that was posted was (understandably) taken in the wrong way. I had hashtags put up on the picture, which I then removed minutes after, but the damage had already been done.
“I apologise for this ignorant mistake and to whom it may have offended/terrified. Definitely a lesson to be learned for the digital age.”