1 of 1- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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Fox falsely reported that the Quebec terrorism suspect was Moroccan
Fix
Fox News falsely reported that the Quebec terrorism suspect was Moroccan. Then Canada got mad.
By Avi Selk February 1 at 5:14 PM
A French Canadian university student was the sole suspect in a shooting at a Quebec City mosque. Fox News reported otherwise for hours. (Facebook via Canadian Broadcasting Corp.)
In the first chaotic hours after the Quebec City mosque massacre, police detained two men: a French Canadian and one born in Morocco.
Plenty of outlets reported both arrests. But no one did it quite like Fox News.
The Canadian, Alexandre Bissonnette, was mentioned nowhere in Fox's tweet Monday, which announced: “Suspect in Quebec mosque terrorist attack was of Moroccan origin.”
Mohamed Belkhadir was quickly released and cleared of involvement, but Fox's tweet stayed up for nearly two days — until the Canadian prime minister's office wrote the outlet to demand a retraction.
Belkhadir later explained that he'd been trying to help people killed and wounded in the attack when police picked him up.
“He said he had been clearing snow off the steps outside the mosque when he heard gunshots,” the Guardian reported. "When the noise stopped, he called 911 and entered the mosque." He fled when an armed man arrived — not realizing it was a police officer.
Bisonnette, meanwhile, surrendered and is now charged with carrying out the attack by himself.
Anyone who clicked the link on Fox's tweet would have read a story in which Belkhadir's ethnicity led the news.
“One of two gunmen who shouted ‘Allahu akbar!’ as they opened fire at a mosque in Quebec City was of Moroccan origin,” Fox wrote, quoting a witness and local reports, according to a Google cache of the original story.
Last edited by Goose (2/02/2017 10:14 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.