AN UNSUSPECTING florist from Bathgate couldn't believe what she was reading after waking up to a torrent of abuse following the riots at Capitol Hill in Washington DC.
Business owner Becky Lindl, 43, was called a "terrorist" among other things when her business was mistaken for another shop that exists in Texas, America.
The owner of US Becky's Flowers and a former candidate for mayor in Midland, Texas, Jenny Cudd, had posted a 25-minute video on her Facebook saying that she and others decided to “storm the Capitol” after Vice President Mike Pence's “betrayal”.
However, Becky Lindl was unwittingly drawn into the backlash aimed as Ms Cudd that followed, when her shop in West Lothian was tagged in a post on social media.
Ms Lindl, who celebrated 10 years of running her own business last year, told The Herald that the amount of negative attention was quickly cause for concern.
"When getting ready to start my working day I checked my phone for notifications and quickly realised I had far more than usual, so something must've been amiss", Ms Lindl explained.
"It became clear very quickly I was being mixed up with someone else."
It then took Ms Lindl over thirty minutes to delete unsavoury comments and posts from her own page, although the unsolicited messages continued to pour in.
She said: "At first I found it quite amusing but quite panicked that my reputation would be affected and stressed trying to keep up with removing it all.
"I've worked really hard to gain a reputable name locally and have won and been nominated for wedding awards so really don't want this destroyed!"
However, loyal followers and patrons of Ms Lindl's business were quick to come to her aid - with those on the other side of the Atlantic even expressing their support and apologising for the mix-up.
Ms Lindl added: "I love social media for its ability to reach so many but hate how easy it for people to hide behind it when being nasty.
"I feel very lucky to be surrounded by people who support me and make it known 'they have my back', it makes me feel safer and protected.
"It takes two minutes to check facts and check who you're speaking to."
Wednesday saw protests in Washington DC get out of control when crowds of Trump supporters started rioting and broke in to the US Capitol building.
A total of five people died following the events.
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