A Fox News reporter lashed out at a misleading edit of his report that was posted to Twitter to make it appear as if he were spreading an unverified rumor about the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas.
Bill Melugin, working from the Los Angeles bureau, was incensed at the deceptive editing posted to social media by a former Deadspin and Daily Beast reporter, Timothy Burke.
The video he posted lasted about 6 seconds and garnered over 322k views.
The full quote from the report completely undermined Burke’s accusation.
“There were rumors that were flying around that this was some sort of Border Patrol chase,” said Melugin. “I have not heard anything of the sort. I have not confirmed any of that information. I have no reason to believe any of, that those rumors are credible at this moment.”
Melugin also ripped into Burke over the video.
“The reason you edited it down to six seconds is because you cut out the part where I shot down these rumors entirely you absolute hack.” Melugin tweeted.
While Burke’s tweet with the misleading video received only 456 likes and 90 retweets, Melugin’s response garnered more than 11.1k likes and 2,166 retweets.
Some on social media conjectured that the shooter, who was later identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, might have been an illegal alien based on the presence of Border Patrol agents at the crime scene. A statement from Homeland Security assistant secretary of public affairs Marsha Espinosa clarified that Border Patrol agents responded to a call for help from Texas law enforcement agents at the shooting.
“Risking their own lives, these Border Patrol Agents and other officers put themselves between the shooter and children on the scene to draw the shooter’s attention away from potential victims and save lives,” Espinosa explained.
One report said that a Border Patrol agent had rushed into the mass shooting in order to shoot and kill the assailant.
Here’s another report from Melugin in Texas:
Uvalde, Texas shooting victims killed inside single classroom www.youtube.com