El Paso Police Department Has Unblocked Users After They Called Out Chief Greg Allen For Controversial Comments

The El Paso Police Department blocked some Twitter users after Chief Greg Allen made a controversial statement about the Black Lives Matter movement in July after five Dallas police officers were gunned down during a peaceful protest.

When asked by the El Paso Times about the blocking of some users, the El Paso Police Department said they worked with the City Attorney’s Office and their current policy allowed for hiding some posts and tweets. They also said they were reviewing accounts that had been blocked to ensure that the policy is followed. The Public Affairs staff was also working with the City Attorney’s office to review the policy and make necessary updates, clarifications and adjustments.

Shortly after social media posts criticizing Allen about his comments, users reported being blocked, as were others who commented about the first group of people being blocked. There were questions about the blocking, including what would happen if there was an emergency and those blocked did not receive tweets informing them of the emergency.

City officials said if someone didn’t have Twitter, or were blocked, they can search the City of El Paso Facebook page or any city department page to find an emergency notification.