The Fresno shooting suspect accused of killing three people on Tuesday shouted “Allahu Akbar” when he was taken into custody by law enforcement, according to Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer – but the Associated Press made an editorial decision to print the translation of his words from Arabic to English: “God is great.”
The Associated Press tweeted on Tuesday afternoon with their translation, despite almost all other news outlets reporting what suspect Kori Ali Muhammad actually said.
Fresno police say suspect in triple slaying told them he hates white people, shouted "God is great" before killings. https://t.co/rrSOzfEXaB
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 18, 2017
The AP responded to Fox News' request for comment, and said they had deleted the tweet and replaced it with a new one:
The AP acknowledged in their article that Muhammad shouted “God is great” in Arabic. The AP story reads:
“Dyer has said Muhammad shouted "God is great!" in Arabic while being arrested and had posted on social media that he dislikes white people. All three victims in Tuesday's killings were white men, and Muhammad is black.”
You mean he shouted "Allahu Akbar" https://t.co/oyzsisLimZ
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) April 18, 2017
What he actually yelled was "Allahu Akbar." Awesome journalisming, @AP. https://t.co/0b8q1YRVlU
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 18, 2017
Once again, @AP is lying. “Allahu Akbar” is what he actually shouted.
— Bob Owens (@bob_owens) April 18, 2017
This was a lone wolf Muslim terror attack AP is trying to cover up. https://t.co/fphVDIR68V
The AP is taking heat on Twitter from news outlets, pundits and journalists for the editorializing, with some slamming the AP for downplaying the shooter’s Islamic ties.