Teh One Who Knocks
10-15-2019, 06:51 PM
Ben Tobin, Louisville Courier Journal
ABC News apologized Monday after airing a video that it originally purported to be a depiction of a Turkish attack in northern Syria against Kurdish civilians after some raised concerns about its similarity to a 2017 video of a Kentucky military gun show.
The video first aired on "World News Tonight" on Sunday evening. As the video played, anchor Tom Llamas said it appeared "to show Turkey's military bombing Kurd civilians in a Syrian border town."
Foreign correspondent Ian Pannell also discussed the footage, saying, "this video, obtained by ABC News, appears to show the fury of the Turkish attack on the border town of Tal Abyad two nights ago."
However, some quickly questioned the authenticity of the video. Wojciech Pawelczyk, who describes himself as a video researcher and Trump supporter, pointed out on Twitter the similarity between the video that aired on ABC News and a video titled "Knob Creek night shoot 2017," which was filmed at Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point, Kentucky.
"Wow! ABC News is trying to pass gun range videos as combat footage from Syria," Pawelczyk wrote in a Tweet on Monday.
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Later in the day, ABC "World News Tonight" said on its Twitter account that it had taken down the video.
"CORRECTION: We’ve taken down video that aired on 'World News Tonight' Sunday and 'Good Morning America' this morning that appeared to be from the Syrian border immediately after questions were raised about its accuracy," the tweet reads. "ABC News regrets the error."
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"Good Morning America" tweeted out the same message Monday.
Meanwhile, Knob Creek Gun Range thanked ABC News for the "free advertising" in a Facebook post Monday evening.
"We’d like to thank ABC news for the free advertising on our Bi-Annual Machine Gun Shoot and Military Gun Show!!" the post reads. "Keep up the good work ABC News!!"
The gun range also put up a photo Monday night on Facebook saying that it was "marked safe from the Turkish invasion in Kentucky today."
https://i.imgur.com/SuMnIlV.png
This controversy comes one week after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to pull American troops from northern Syria, clearing the way for Turkish military operations in the region.
Last week, Turkey launched a ground and air assault in northern Syria, targeting Kurdish fighters that were part of a militia that had fought alongside the United States against the Islamic State.
Trump also weighed in on the ABC News controversy Monday night.
"A big scandal at @ABC News," Trump wrote on Twitter. "They got caught using really gruesome FAKE footage of the Turks bombing in Syria. A real disgrace. Tomorrow they will ask softball questions to Sleepy Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, like why did Ukraine & China pay you millions when you knew nothing? Payoff?"
1183900672892309505
A Knob Creek Gun Range representative said they would pass along a Courier Journal reporter's contact information to the owner. The Courier Journal has not heard back from the gun range.
ABC News apologized Monday after airing a video that it originally purported to be a depiction of a Turkish attack in northern Syria against Kurdish civilians after some raised concerns about its similarity to a 2017 video of a Kentucky military gun show.
The video first aired on "World News Tonight" on Sunday evening. As the video played, anchor Tom Llamas said it appeared "to show Turkey's military bombing Kurd civilians in a Syrian border town."
Foreign correspondent Ian Pannell also discussed the footage, saying, "this video, obtained by ABC News, appears to show the fury of the Turkish attack on the border town of Tal Abyad two nights ago."
However, some quickly questioned the authenticity of the video. Wojciech Pawelczyk, who describes himself as a video researcher and Trump supporter, pointed out on Twitter the similarity between the video that aired on ABC News and a video titled "Knob Creek night shoot 2017," which was filmed at Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point, Kentucky.
"Wow! ABC News is trying to pass gun range videos as combat footage from Syria," Pawelczyk wrote in a Tweet on Monday.
1183695628288827392
Later in the day, ABC "World News Tonight" said on its Twitter account that it had taken down the video.
"CORRECTION: We’ve taken down video that aired on 'World News Tonight' Sunday and 'Good Morning America' this morning that appeared to be from the Syrian border immediately after questions were raised about its accuracy," the tweet reads. "ABC News regrets the error."
1183772997771026432
"Good Morning America" tweeted out the same message Monday.
Meanwhile, Knob Creek Gun Range thanked ABC News for the "free advertising" in a Facebook post Monday evening.
"We’d like to thank ABC news for the free advertising on our Bi-Annual Machine Gun Shoot and Military Gun Show!!" the post reads. "Keep up the good work ABC News!!"
The gun range also put up a photo Monday night on Facebook saying that it was "marked safe from the Turkish invasion in Kentucky today."
https://i.imgur.com/SuMnIlV.png
This controversy comes one week after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to pull American troops from northern Syria, clearing the way for Turkish military operations in the region.
Last week, Turkey launched a ground and air assault in northern Syria, targeting Kurdish fighters that were part of a militia that had fought alongside the United States against the Islamic State.
Trump also weighed in on the ABC News controversy Monday night.
"A big scandal at @ABC News," Trump wrote on Twitter. "They got caught using really gruesome FAKE footage of the Turks bombing in Syria. A real disgrace. Tomorrow they will ask softball questions to Sleepy Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, like why did Ukraine & China pay you millions when you knew nothing? Payoff?"
1183900672892309505
A Knob Creek Gun Range representative said they would pass along a Courier Journal reporter's contact information to the owner. The Courier Journal has not heard back from the gun range.