The Associated Press edited the words of a Muslim man who allegedly killed three white people in downtown Fresno Tuesday afternoon and shouted “Allahu Akbar!”
Kori Ali Muhammad is seen in an undated photo released by Fresno Police in Fresno, California, U.S. April 18, 2017. Fresno Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
The suspect, 39-year-old Kori Ali Muhammad, holds fervent anti-Trump beliefs according to his social media profile, and he told police afterward that he hates white people.
Rather than reporting the gunman’s literal words, however, the AP reported the gunman as saying “God is great.”
On Twitter, the AP’s report gave no indication that the suspect’s words were said in Arabic.
Screenshot/Twitter
The AP took flack on Twitter for the edits, which some said were meant to downplay the shooter’s ties to Islam.
The AP’s original story on the shooting noted that Muhammed said the words in Arabic, but still reported it as “God is great” instead of “Allahu Akbar.” A later edition finally noted that Muhammed said “Allahu Akbar.”
The AP announced late Wednesday morning that it was retracting the tweet.
“We deleted a tweet about a Fresno slaying suspect shouting ‘God is great.’ It failed to note he said it in Arabic. A new tweet is upcoming,” the AP said.
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