This unfortunate incident, not caused by crime or violence but an accident, has fortunately brought out some interesting points that are obvious from the posts made in this thread. As we continuously mention, the Negril rumor mill is quite active and colourful. Rumor and speculation benefit no one and causes much more harm than any possible good.
The original poster asked a very basic question based on what they had heard or read from someone. The title of this thread "Riot?" is a fair question considering the instant rumor caused by the Internet.
Anyone who has seen or been in a riot, such as happened in the USA cities of Ferguson and Baltimore would immediately see no similarity between those riots and the protest in Negril, which lasted a matter of hours. I was taken to Ohio State by my brother during the Vietnam riots, and being teargassed at age 9 is something I will never forget.
If you had not known about the protest, the day after you could walk around Negril and be none the wiser. Other than some fading scorch marks on the road, there were no obvious signs that anything occurred. But this is a perfect example of how the Internet can take one thing and transform it into another.
All over the Internet, people have now begun to change their postings, toning them down once they found out the truth of the situation. One particular post on another site, there was a complete "description" of the incident which caused the "riot". That post has now been changed to "waiting to find out the facts" about what caused the "protest". While this does show that the posters realize they were wrong in making their original post, it is impossible to "un-ring a bell". The damage has already been done adding to the rumor and speculation and causing further damage.
I admire the way our poster eddie handled his posts with an apology and retraction of his original post. This demonstrates how the Negril rumor mill works and also does not change what people have already read.
With all the emails and PMs I have received talking about cancelling their trips and asking about the accuracy of the postings on other sites, I would like to thank you all for making the effort to provide the facts to our visitors. Your posts in this thread and all the posts over the years have helped millions of visitors to Negril have the best time possible!
