Viral images have a way of shaping people’s perception of things even in the face of other information. A narrative can easily form without context or other details that would help explain things in a different situation. The internet also creates room for rampant speculation when something spreads so quickly. So, when Google Earth images started floating around of the word “HELP” written in the ground of a vacant lot in LA, things escalated pretty quickly.
Local police did go to that location to see what was going on. There was nothing suspicious, and no evidence of criminal activity. (And why would there be, as the picture was taken in November of 2023.) Further investigation by ABC News actually revealed that similar words had been seen in June 2023, and as late as February of 2024. So yes, at first glance it might look concerning, but the context shows whoever is doing this has had plenty of time and energy to keep doing it and not in any danger.
This is backed up by the police speaking with the individual who is responsible for making those marks. Police didn’t go into a tremendous amount of detail but the person was offered housing and mental health evaluations but refused them. Also, the owners of that land by the Cesar Chavez bridge is owned by Union Pacific and they know the person doing it as well.
“A man trespassed on Union Pacific and other nearby properties to repeatedly create these misleading messages,” a spokesperson said. “We do know the individual that creates these, does so on neighboring properties as well.”
Is it weird? Yeah. But is there something cool about making something like that and having it picked up on Google Earth? Also yes. Making people think there’s something wrong is not the greatest way to spend your time, but we can only hope the person doing this is in a good place. The internet is very quick to leap to conclusions but we’re happy to hear that everything’s relatively okay here.
