Is a stampede started by just one animal, and the others follow or be trampled?
So, if the first animal initiated this stampede on an assumption, not fact, and no threat really exsisted, it managed to cause the damage, death, destruction on its own accord that it was thinking it was trying to prevent....
I would guess this is the reasoning you don't yell out fire in a theatre, eh?

Shame we can't extend this law to cover politicians, academia, and media