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In July 2016, the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were broadcast across social media, and five police officers were shot and killed in Dallas. In the aftermath of the month's bloody beginnings and ensuing protests, rumors began circulating on Facebook that three countries warned their citizens not to visit the United States. The claim was often unaccompanied by citations, leaving many to draw their own conclusions about whether it was accurate, or why such a scenario might be the case. Some blamed police shootings for the purported warnings, others the shootings of police officers, and still more speculated that the warnings came out of general unrest. In April 2016, we reported that the United Kingdom issued a travel alert for citizens visiting the United States. In that instance, the warning was directed at toward gay, lesbian, and transgender people and cautioned that at least two states (North Carolina and Mississippi) might constitute unfriendly territory. On 11 July 2016, Condé Nast Traveler published an item regarding travel warnings issued by the Bahamas, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates about travel to the United States: That article linked to a tweet sent by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain: Following those warnings, an Australian outlet noted that New Zealand had updated its directives regarding visits to the United States as well: The quoted guidelines were issued as early as 3 June 2016, and listed terrorism, crime, and civil unrest in the United States as matters with which New Zealanders should be acquainted before visiting: Several countries did issue travel warnings for the United States in 2016, though those warnings varied from country to country and didn't have to do with any one issue. The number of countries issuing warnings was also more than three. Depending whether countries in the United Kingdom were counted individually or as a whole (and accounting for unnoticed warnings) anywhere between five and nine countries issued advisories between April and July 2016.
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