Satirical tweets from “The Onion” stir controversy

A tweet sent out by satirical news site “The Onion” caused confusion and minor panic earlier today, to the point where U.S. Capitol police were forced to address the public that the information was false. The tweet read “BREAKING: Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside Capitol building.” Capitol police issued a statement that all was well; “There is no credibility to these stories or the twitter feeds,” the statement read.

Matt Kirsch, project manager of The Onion, said that the tweet was satire, and meant to be taken as part of a fake news story. The incident, however, has followers and viewers wondering if the parody news source took things too far.