ABC News chief national correspondent Tom Llamas suffered a massive Twitter backlash on Tuesday after he notified Houston police about “looting” during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

“We informed police of the looting and Coast Guard is flying overhead. Multiple officers now on the scene,” Llamas said in a tweet he sent and later deleted.

Many on social media accused Llamas of snitching on people in need, arguing that there is a difference between “looting” and grabbing food and supplies to survive a devastating emergency.

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One user simply replied, “F— off, snitch.”

Llamas later clarified: “Let me clear this up- we were w/ police who had discovered a dead body & mentioned we saw ppl w/ faces covered going into a supermarket nearby.”

It appears that Llamas didn’t call police, he simply notified authorities with whom he was already interacting. That detail didn’t stop the backlash. The second tweet — also deleted — received a thousand replies within 40 minutes, most of them negative.

ABC News declined to comment.

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Llamas has been on the ground in the Houston area since Sunday covering the devastation for a variety of ABC News platforms, including “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight.”

The hurricane has shown repeatedly that sometimes reporters’ basic human instincts can trump their notions of journalistic objectivity. Reporters traditionally try to avoid influencing the stories they tell, but during the hurricane, some have helped stage rescues. A New York Times reporter found himself among Harvey’s victims.

Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, many have debated whether taking supplies in the midst of a weather-related emergency is the same as “looting.”

Many reporters refuse to help law enforcement investigations on the grounds that their duty is to report, not assist police. Some reporters have even gone to prison to avoid testifying.

Llamas went in another direction.

What did you imagine the hungry people were taking from the grocery store? Big-screen TVs? — Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) August 29, 2017

Maybe sit the next couple plays out, champ. — coreyspring (@coreyspring) August 29, 2017

Hey Tom Llamas how about calling on price gouges and not stores that can't even sell the food anymore due to being flooded out? — K voss (@Kvoss1313) August 29, 2017

Why that's Tom Llamas, the reporter who snitched on looters trying to get food and supplies from a supermarket during a natural disaster. pic.twitter.com/WaRrl5rqLa — Bot Lynch 9000 (@BethLynch2020) August 29, 2017

Tyler, I'm at a Barnes & Nobel and someone is using a store outlet to charge a personal device. Can you contact the FBI? — Matt H (@Mopkins15) August 29, 2017

So you saved a corporation's rapidly spoiling tax write-offs from starving human beings? I'm sure your Pulitzer is in the mail. — FrankyP (@FrankyPelvis) August 29, 2017

Your NYC reporter whose family is safe thought cops should protect property instead of rescuing human beings. — TheShepherdAbides???? (@NeolithicSheep) August 29, 2017

Tom Llamas calling cops on folks trying to eat during a catastrophic flood event is one of the more hateful things I've seen during Harvey. — LatLongLiz (@LatLongLiz) August 29, 2017

Tom, don't listen to these people. It was very brave and right of you to put property ahead of flood victims. You are a hero. Thank you. — Jon Tayler (@JATayler) August 29, 2017

Hi Tom, the city has asked us to only call 911 for life-threatening emergencies. I'm sure you were very scared but this wasn't one. — Robert Anderson (@thatdarnedbob) August 29, 2017