Belgians React to Raids With Twitterstorm of Cats

(Newser) – Brussels may have been on lockdown Sunday, but residents' Twitter accounts weren't—and they tweeted photos of cats. As police continued anti-terror raids and their search for Paris attack suspects, including Salah Abdeslam, Belgian citizens were asked to keep their social media dark about any police activity so the suspects wouldn't be able to keep tabs, the Guardian reports. "A tense time, no doubt," the paper notes. "But Belgium reacted—how else?—with cats."

Using the #BrusselsLockdown hashtag, people started catapulting feline photos into the Twitterverse, featuring their furry friends dressed up in a range of costumes and in a variety of situations (check out some of our favorite kitties in the gallery). "Don't share info on situation #BrusselsLockdown that may help suspects. Confuse them with #cat pics," one person posted. This perfect response didn't go unrecognized by Belgian police, who Monday tweeted a pic of a heaping bowl of cat food and a message in French that read (roughly translated), "For the cats that helped us last night—help yourselves!" (A tennis final will go on in Belgium this weekend with increased security.)