The Associated Press deleted a tweet Wednesday that failed to note the suspect in the Fresno, Calif., shooting this week, which claimed the lives of three people, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” when he was arrested.
The now-deleted AP tweet instead translated the shooting suspect, Kori Ali Muhammad, and reported he allegedly shouted, “God is Great.”
The issue here is that Muhammad allegedly yelled out in Arabic, and it’s unclear why the AP felt the need to translate him into English. Most people probably know what “Allahu Akbar” means. If the suspect had reportedly shouted, say, “aloha,” it seems unlikely the AP would have reported he yelled “hello and also goodbye.”
For comparison, competing newsrooms had no issue reporting Muhammad reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar”:
- CBS News: “Man arrested in connection w/ killing 3 in Fresno, CA; heard shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ while being arrested.”
- NBC News: “Police Chief: ‘Too early to say if Fresno shooting spree ‘involves terrorism,’ but suspect yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’ gives that indication.'”
- ABC News: “Officers witnessed him yell ‘Allahu Akbar’ … he has written anti-government sentiments on social media as well as posts saying that he does not like white people.”
Spokespersons for the global newswire service did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
On Wednesday, after a fair bit of criticism, the AP deleted its original tweet and issued a statement.
“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 wire service said in a tweet Wednesday.
However, the words “Allahu” and “Akbar” are still notably absent from the explanation.
