Mother Jones has obtained a copy of Bill O’Reilly’s CBS News video from the Falklands war riot in Buenos Aires – the one that he has since claimed included deaths, “real bullets” and an injury to his cameraman. Yet O’Reilly’s own report includes none of that.
From Mother Jones:
To justify his claim that he was in a “war zone” and a “combat situation” in Buenos Aires, O’Reilly has pointed to his coverage of a violent protest that erupted after the Argentines surrendered. He has said that a bloodbath occurred, with Argentine troops firing live ammunition into the crowd, mowing down demonstrators, and killing “many.” He also has claimed that during the protest a soldier pointed an M-16 at him, and that he heroically rescued his cameraman as O’Reilly and his crew were being chased by soldiers.
His own real-time coverage of the protest (see here for a transcript) makes no mention of a massacre or threats to him and his crew.
As Mother Jones noted, this report was one made entirely by O’Reilly and was separate from the CBS News report O’Reilly aired last week (that did not back up his claims, either).
What’s notable about this report, Mother Jones points out, is what’s not in it:
He does not refer to Argentine soldiers gunning down civilians or mention any deaths. He says nothing about soldiers chasing him and his crew. And there’s no reference to a CBS cameraman being injured. (A reporter who witnesses soldiers shooting protesters and killing many civilians would presumably be compelled to report on those horrors.) His report depicts exactly what other journalists and eyewitnesses have said took place: a violent demonstration in which tear gas and rubber bullets were deployed. In this 1982 report, O’Reilly called the demonstration a “disturbance.” But in later years—on his Fox News show, in his writings, and at speaking engagements—he has claimed that the event was a bloody melee that amounted to “combat” in a “war zone.”
Watch the video below, via Mother Jones.
O’Reilly graphic by Nina Brodsky