Onion's joke story on GOP 'hostage takers' gets Capitol Police attention

The U.S. Capitol Police released a statement this morning to assure members of Congress and their staffs that a group of GOP representatives did NOT in fact take a group of schoolchildren hostage.

The rumors began flying this morning after the satirical publication The Onion tweeted out its breaking "news" alert:

You can find the full story here.

Republican staffers immediately pounced.  Sen. Jim DeMint's senior communications advisor Amanda Carpenter didn't find the joke so funny -- can't say that I blame them for being upset.  People working in the Capitol are always on an elevated security alert.  Not to mention, seeing Speaker John Boehner's head Photoshopped onto the body of an armed terrorist holding his gun to a child's head is pretty unsettling:

Word quickly spread of the faux news report, rumors began swirly around the cesspool of gossip that is Capitol Hill and soon, the Capitol Police were forced to weigh in with this statement (via Dave Weigel):

It has come to our attention that recents twitter feeds are reporting false information concerning current conditions at the U.S. Capitol. Conditions at the U.S. Capitol are currently normal. There is no credibility to these stories or the twitter feeds. The U.S. Capitol Police are currently investigating the reporting.

Good to know.