Cats take over #Brusselslockdown Twitter hashtag as Belgium hunts for terror suspect

As the Belgian city of Brussels prepared to enter its third day of lockdown, with police continuing the hunt for a terrorist suspected in connection with the Paris attacks 10 days ago, local Twitter users did what they do best — they shared photos and other observations with the world.

However, authorities asked users to stop sharing information, given that it could inadvertently help the suspect evade capture or target the police themselves. Then a truly bizarre and wonderful thing happened — the #BrusselsLockdown hashtag was taken over by users sharing cat photos. Twitter has a Moments Page dedicated to the event, which says:

“To prevent terrorists from following police activity, Belgian police asked residents not to share details of the #BrusselsLockdown via social media, civilians took over the hashtag and flooded it with pictures of their feline friends.”

Of course, it wasn’t just Belgians sharing their feline flicks — Twitter users from around the world got involved, sharing photoshopped images, videos, and hilarious GIFs.

https://twitter.com/cake_tickler/status/668558598356787201

We must not let fear win…#BrusselsLockDown pic.twitter.com/GAr5YGpkGz

— Maiol Sanaüja (@maiolsanauja) November 23, 2015

https://twitter.com/pixelcath/status/668558688941142017

Last week, we wrote about how Twitter was built for comedy; still, it’s amazing to see how the Internet maintains a sense of humor even during troubling times.