CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – A Panthers fan page on Facebook has repeatedly shared troubling false information in recent weeks, drawing thousands of reactions.
“The Panthers Den,” the account behind the Facebook page, posts multiple times a day, often spreading fabricated — and sometimes tragic — claims in what appears to be an effort to boost engagement.
Claim that a Charlotte officer was killed
A post shared to the page on Monday, Feb. 9, claimed that a Charlotte police officer was killed in a DUI crash while assisting with Super Bowl LX preparations. As of this writing, the post had generated more than 6,000 reactions.
The page alleged that the officer was from Charlotte, which is false. The deputy pictured in the post was actually based in Charlotte County, Florida — not Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office in Florida debunked the claim, explaining that the post reused an image of Deputy Chris Taylor, who died in 2022. Officials said the post was part of a “scam,” not a legitimate report of a deputy’s death.
“We often hear of people pretending to be sworn members of our agency, requesting money to ‘pay your way’ out of an arrest warrant (you can’t do that by the way). This one, however, is an all-time low,” the sheriff’s office wrote on social media.
The sheriff’s office in Florida warned that the posts falsely using the late Deputy Taylor’s image were circulating across multiple Facebook pages. Some of which appeared to include fan pages for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Buffalo Bills, and the Green Bay Packers.
Deputies warned that “scam” posts using Taylor’s image are circulating across multiple pages.(Courtesy: Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office)
While the motive behind these posts is unclear, deputies said it’s possible the pages were using clickbait to boost engagement and potentially generate profit.
False Panthers-related content
In another apparent attempt to attract viewers, the page has also shared Panthers-related content, though much of it is misleading.
A post from Tuesday, Feb. 10, for example, claimed that the organization and the state of North Carolina had finalized an agreement to build a new stadium in Concord, earning over 500 reactions. This claim is false: No such agreement exists, and Charlotte leaders recently approved a $650 million renovation of Bank of America Stadium in Uptown.
–> Related: Panthers unveil proposed renovations at Bank of America Stadium
Another Panthers-related post that garnered more than 300 reactions on Saturday, Feb. 7, falsely claimed that the team had traded for Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett. That same day, the page also alleged that the Panthers had acquired Raiders standout defensive end Maxx Crosby.
For anyone who follows the NFL, these claims were clearly untrue and required no formal debunking.
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