Not that RNC. Canadian police field angry, admiring Trump tweets

OTTAWA (Reuters) - For all the fervor the Republican National Convention has generated on Twitter this week, some users have directed their anger and admiration of the events in Cleveland toward a very different organization - a provincial police service on the east coast of Canada. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's handle, @RNC_PoliceNL, is the first that comes up in a Twitter search for "RNC," a top search related to the Republican National Convention being held this week. The confusion has led to a barrage of tweets being directed at the police force in the Atlantic province. "Go Trump beat crooked Hillary!!!" one person tweeted at the police department while another warned of a "bloodbath if you don't temporarily suspend the open and concealed carry law." "Pray all is peaceful in Cleveland tonight," another user tweeted to the department. The provincial RNC has politely replied to many users that it has no connection to U.S. political parties in an effort to set the record straight. It added the word "police" to its handle three months ago, but that has not deterred Twitter users from sending messages about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "It's like getting the wrong number. If your phone number was one digit off the pizza place, people would always be phoning you to order a pepperoni pizza," said Constable Geoff Higdon, who runs the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's social media Higdon has blocked hundreds of users to prevent the department from being bombarded with retweets and has resorted to hashtags such as #WeAren'tTheRepublicans and #CanadaEh to help deter the tweets. The message appeared to be getting through to some. "I'd still for sure vote for your police chief for prez over @realDonaldTrump," one user said, using the hashtag CanadaPleaseComeSaveUs. Higdon said there were no plans to change the identity of the police force, which considers itself the oldest civil police force in North American and dates back to 1729. "What would we change it to? We are the RNC." (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Leslie Adler)