Police shred Breitbart for manufacturing ‘fake news’ story about chanting Muslims setting fire to church https://t.co/82xXauGClY pic.twitter.com/JhVGQJctga
— Raw Story (@RawStory) January 7, 2017
At issue was a report on Breitbart, headlined “Revealed: 1,000-man mob attack police, set Germany’s oldest church alight on New Year’s Eve.” The story, written by Virginia Hale, claimed the mob “chanted Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), launched fireworks at police and set fire to a historic church.” According to local police speaking with local newspaper, Ruhr Nachrichten, no such thing happened.
Officials also noted that Breitbart is owned by Trump advisor Stephen Bannon, who joined the president-elect’s campaign when it was floundering and helped shape the inflammatory racial rhetoric that contributed to Trump’s surprising victory.
The story, which was posted to the website on Jan 3 is still available without any corrections, updates or editor’s notes.