New York Post apologizes for misreporting Trump shooter as ‘Chinese man’
By Carl Samson
The New York Post has apologized for a July 13 article that initially falsely described the shooter in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump as a “Chinese man.” While the news outlet corrected the story shortly after publishing to indicate that the suspect was a “white male,” an apology was not immediately available, prompting Asian American officials and community leaders to demand one.
- Calls for apology: New York State Sens. John Liu and Iwen Chu, Assemblyperson Grace Lee and New York City Councilmembers Sandra Ung and Susan Zhuang called for an apology from the newspaper, highlighting the distress and danger the false report has caused to the Chinese American community. The Committee of 100, an organization of top Chinese American leaders, demanded an apology and urged stricter editorial guidelines to prevent similar mistakes. Nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate likewise demanded an apology, as well as a “formal retraction.”
- What it says now: The Asian American community has been particularly sensitive to misreporting and anti-Asian rhetoric due to the rise of anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many Asian Americans falsely blamed for spreading the coronavirus. Amid the chorus of criticism, the New York Post updated the article with an editor’s note that states: “In a version of this article on July 13, the Post erroneously reported that the shooter was a Chinese man, based on wrong information we obtained from sources. We quickly corrected the mistake. We sincerely apologize for the error.”
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