St. Louis, Missouri Police Department Says Controversial 'Kids Will Be Kids' Tweet About Tamir Rice Was Intended to 'Inform Citizens'

The St. Louis County Police Department released an apology for an "offensive" social media message about the death of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a Cleveland police officer. The Twitter account for St. Louis' police force shared a headline and link referring to Rice's death and added "Kids will be kids?"

Rice, a black child, was killed by a white police officer in November who thought the airsoft gun Rice was carrying was a real weapon. The shooting was captured on video.

After the police department's tweet was posted Thursday morning, it was almost immediately deleted from both Twitter and its linked Facebook page.

Police Chief Jon Belmar apologized that afternoon via Facebook.

"The intention of the post was to inform citizens about the potential danger of airsoft or pellet guns resembling real guns," he wrote. "However, the post was a misguided communication strategy and was offensive to many people. As Chief of Police, I apologize to Tamir's family and anyone who was offended by the post. While the post did not originate from the Chief's Office and I was unaware of its presence prior to its release, I realize the message was insensitive to Tamir's family and the sorrow they are currently experiencing."

The St. Louis Police Department is also dealing with scrutiny in the wake of the Ferguson protests of the killing of black teenager Michael Brown by former police officer Darren Wilson, a white man. Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson in the shooting, which ignited demonstrations across the country.

Beyond St. Louis, other police departments have gotten into hot water over social media posts.

Shortly after news broke that there would be no indictment for the white police officer who was responsible for killing New York man Eric Garner, the NYPD tweeted a message about rebuilding public trust using the hashtag "#WeHearYou." The tweet backfired, upsetting many and leading the department to implement a temporary ban on its social media pages.