Trust and Organizational Rumor Transmission

For 9 hours on a hot Sunday afternoon in Sydney, Australia, police in riot gear battled 200 Aboriginal youths (Chulov, Warne-Smith, & Colman, 2004). Bricks, bottles, and firecrackers rained down on the police, 40 of whom were injured during the melee. The spark that ignited this tinderbox was a rumor that police cars had chased 17-year-old Thomas Hickey on his bicycle, causing him to fall and fatally impale himself on a steel-spiked fence. Police insisted they had been cruising the area looking for a bag-snatcher, found the impaled youth, and attempted to resuscitate him. Although a hot summer day and alcohol had contributed to this rumor-sparked riot, distrust played a foundational role.