Teenagers charged for pulling a prank in Walmart claiming to be victims of Coronavirus

Several cases of hoaxes and misinformation is spreading online and offline

Two teenagers were charged with a misdemeanour for creating panic in a Walmart in Joliet, Illinois, says the police. According to the officials, one of the teenagers Tyler D Wallace, 19, walked into the store wearing a sign saying that he had the new coronavirus and went on to spraying Lysol on products and produce. He was charged with misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct, retail theft and criminal trespass to property.

The other boy who was with Wallace was also charged with misdemeanour counts of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. The police said that it seemed like a prank that went out of line. Amid the panic and fear of the new virus spreading there have been a few reports of similar misdemeanours that went far out of line.

Other Hoaxes played by people

Wuhan Coronavirus
Twitter / Imran Iftikhar

The police said that Walmart incurred an expense of over $7,300 and cleanup costing over $2,400 for the destruction caused by the two teens. The Canadian Youtuber Potok Philippe, whose real name is James Potok, was on a flight to Jamaica from Toronto when he thought it would be a good idea to stand up and claim that he had travelled to Hunan, China and is not feeling too well.

This led the WestJet flight to go back to Toronto and create panic in the flight. The Youtuber later apologized for his actions through a Youtube video. Another hoax that was alerted in the US was about the virus spreading in the Easton Area High School. The authorities of the school confirmed that this was a hoax as well. The student who spread the news about the virus in the school was held accountable to their actions according to the school.

Several hundred have died because of the new coronavirus from Wuhan. The rising social media messages and actions by the people to spread fake news has caused the people to be wary of the information about the ongoing health crisis.

Related topics : Coronavirus Fake news
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