An anonymous Instagram user operated an account aimed at exposing and intimidating violent crime witnesses in Philadelphia, Penn., before it was removed from the site Thursday night.
The "rats215" account had nearly 7,900 followers, posted more than 150 photos and outed more than 30 witnesses since February, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
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The goal of the account appeared to be to intimidate future witnesses from testifying in violent crime cases, or "expose rats" as the account's creator put it. The Inquirer described the account-holder's tactics as follows:
In one post, the account-holder praises Kaboni Savage — the North Philadelphia drug kingpin sentenced to death in June for 12 murders, including a fireboming that killed four children and two women. The bombing was retaliation for a witness' cooperation with the FBI.
In the same post, rats215 warns witnesses "we will get at you in time."
The account reportedly featured pictures of witnesses testifying or court documents with witness identification information that would normally be redacted. Whoever operated the account would ask followers to send this type of material, according to the Inquirer, but it's not clear how he or she actually obtained the documents and photos.
A spokeswoman for the Philadelphia district attorney told the Inquirer that witness intimidation is a "very serious, ongoing problem" in the city. The police are currently investigating the account and trying to track down its owner.
Rats215 disappeared from the site shortly after the Inquirer brought it to Instagram's attention. Without confirming outright that the company removed the account, an Instagram representative replied to our inquiry with a statement suggesting the account violated its terms of service.
"Instagram has a clear set of community guidelines which make it clear what is and isn't allowed," an Instagram spokesperson told Mashable in an email. "This includes prohibiting content that bullies or harasses."
The spokesperson did not reply to our followup inquiry by publishing time and, from the Inquirer report, it was not immediately clear whether there had been retribution against the witnesses involved.
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