Following requests from Belgian police to not tweet developments during ongoing terrorism raids, witnesses took to social media to post images of cats, with the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown.

NBC News reports that Belgians and the rest of the world followed the request of Defense Minister Steven Vandeput, and posted amusing photos of cats on Sunday, rather than developments on the raids.

The viral posts had three levels of positive impact on the developments. Twitter was no longer a source of warning for impending raids, the posts helped draw attention away from potentially harmful tweets, and the activity helped to ease some of the tension felt by the city under lock down.

Cats and the Internet are often associated with one another, and the Brussels Lockdown hashtag helped to reaffirm that. Images of cats, edited to appear to be in a spa, holding a gun, and in superhero costumes were among those posted.

By Monday over 170,000 tweets were posted containing #BrusselsLockdown, with the majority of the tweets including a cat-centric meme. The capital city of Brussels went under lock-down Saturday after the Prime Minister received word of threats on par with the attacks in Paris.

During the raids throughout the city on Sunday 16 people were arrested. A fugitive thought to be connected to the Paris attacks was not among those brought into custody.

The Belgian police joined in the cause, thanking those who added a feline touch to the #BrusselsLockdown social media presence. Posting an image of a bowl of cat food, the police tweeted, “For the cats who helped us last night…help yourself!”