[spangled]

Well sure it is when you deliberately spread disinformation, as opposed to being mistaken.

There is no difference. Sunil Trapathi was mis-identified because somebody said they heard his name on the police scanner, and then Reddit (and Twitter) repeated it as if it were true (see "social proof"), with no confirmation at all. They weren't just mistaken: they didn't even bother to verify it.

I don't see much reason to think that the average law enforcement agent is much better or worse than the average redditor.

Aside from the fact that they actually located the right people whereas reddit identified several wrong people? You don't think that training in proper investigative and analysis techniques plays a role in that? How bizarre.