The Huffington Post Canada is reporting that a spokeswoman for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reached out to Fox News about a tweet the network posted from its verified account regarding the deadly Quebec City mosque terror attack which took place Sunday evening.
Here is the tweet from Fox News’ verified Twitter account:
Suspect in Quebec mosque terror attack was of Moroccan origin, reports show https://t.co/oRzxGHEXDmpic.twitter.com/aEsEtccMvi
Advertisement— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 30, 2017
The problem with this tweet is that the suspect is not of Moroccan origin. In fact, the shooter accused of killing 6 people and wounding 8 is Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27 year-old French Canadian, who, according to the New York Times, “was well known to people who monitor far-right groups in Quebec, where he frequently commented on sites speaking about immigration and Islam.” Bissonnette was formally charged with six counts of murder on Monday.
Here is the note from Kate Purchase to Fox News:
.@JustinTrudeau spokeswoman @katepurchase sends letter to @FoxNews Bill Shine on their misleading story. #cdnpolipic.twitter.com/hBGdfYwuze
— Althia Raj (@althiaraj) January 31, 2017
The tweet was still up on the Fox News account at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Jan. 31. We have reached out to Fox News for comment, but have yet to hear back.
UPDATE: We heard back from Fox News at 7:40 p.m. ET on Tuesday following a request from the Office of the Prime Minister that the network retract their inaccurate tweet. Here is the network’s statement: