• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer, February 28, 2013

A California woman has been arrested for attacking another woman with a pitchfork because of a photo she posted on an unnamed social media site, according to a report in the Vallejo Times Herald. 28-year-old Xanadu Cain, of Vallejo, CA, was arrested at 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday by police responding to reports of a fight, after she allegedly attempted to assault the unnamed victim with the agricultural implement as well as her automobile.

According to Vallejo Police Lt. Kenny Park, “The suspect had become enraged at the victim, who she knew, over a photo on an Internet site and poked her several times with a pitchfork. She was stopped by several bystanders, and then she got in a car and tried to run the victim over.” Fortunately the victim only received minor injuries and didn’t require hospitalization. Cain is being charged with assault with two deadly weapons.

With its clear potential for calculated embarrassment, it’s no surprise social media appears to be implicated in more violent crime, as injured parties seek retribution for public humiliation. Earlier this month I wrote about Chris Mass, a 23-year-old former star high school athlete who was shot and killed in Tyler, TX, during an argument between two other men about a flirtatious tweet to a woman.

In New York City, the NYPD gang unit has reported gangs using social media to taunt each other, for example by posting photos of themselves in front of each other’s residences and insulting comments boasting of violent crimes. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly noted: “Because of these individuals’ insatiable desire to brag about what they did, these investigators were able to draw a virtual map of their activities and bring them to justice.” In October of last year the NYPD expanded its gang unit to 300 detectives in response to an uptick in criminal activity which the police blame, at least in part, on social media.