NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As a national news story unfolded, one family found themselves in a nightmare. Now, they share their story in the hope lessons can be learned about social media responsibility.
"We made it through the year, and that's all we can ask for," said Tony Warner of Madison, sitting next to his wife, Suzie.
In 2020, the couple has seen their share of the unexpected.
As the owners of local haunted houses, Devil's Dungeon and Haunted Hell, they were served a challenge this year, adapting to comply with the health department during COVID.
The unexpected didn't end there for the Warners.
After the RV explosion in downtown Nashville, a name first emerged as a person of interest and was later declared the bomber by federal authorities. Anthony Quinn Warner. The posts started with many on social media targeting Tony Warner instead.
"All of a sudden social media blows up stating that I'm the bomber," Tony said.
Making it worse, the picture most commonly spread was taken from Suzie's Facebook page of the couple with their grandchildren.
"Once it starts, it's very hard to stop," Suzie said. "When they pull your family into it, especially innocent little babies, it made me very angry."
Tony said family members tried to correct the many social media posts but were met with resistance.
"They would say, 'hey, this is not the same person, you need to get your facts straight,'" said Tony. "The people posting are saying, 'no, no. We know what we're talking about.' They say they're social media detectives, but they don't fact check anything. They just put it out there."
Tony told News4 Anthony Quinn Warner is a second cousin, but he'd fallen out of contact with him in the past 15 years and doesn't have insights into what happened.
"Nobody understands this," he said.
Today, the couple is urging people to be responsible because what happened to them can happen to anyone.
"How would you like it if somebody started posting stuff about you, and your name is getting ruined cause they think this would get them a big following?" asked Tony.
"Fact check it," said Suzie. "Don't just put it out there. 'I found this guy. I Googled this person, and this is him!'"
"When do people take responsibility for what they say?" Tony asked.