Daily Caller editor-in-chief unloads on the New York Times for misidentifying reporter as 'rioter'

The Daily Caller's editor-in-chief, Geoffrey Ingersoll, blasted the New York Times on Monday after the Sunday edition of the paper falsely identified a credentialed reporter with the outlet as a rioter and falsely accused him of participating in violent activity at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Over the weekend, the Times published an essay by Timothy Snyder, the Levin professor of history at Yale University, commenting on the Capitol Hill riots that took place last week and asserting that the "post-truth" Trump presidency is a precursor to fascism. Embedded in the article is a photograph of Richie McGinniss, a videographer with the Daily Caller.

McGinniss was reporting on the riots on location at the Capitol when the photograph was taken. He was photographed shirtless at a door to the Capitol that had previously been attacked by rioters with the mob. In the picture, he can be seen gesturing to Capitol Police, who are visible through shattered windows on the other side of the door.

In the photo caption, the Times originally identified McGinniss as a "rioter" and said that "he punched the door after being pepper-sprayed and forced out of the building."

None of that was true, according to McGinniss, who said that immediately prior to the photo, he was dosed with pepper spray and removed his shirt because it was "burning my skin." He explained that he had lost his phone in a "melee." He claimed that in the photo he's gesturing to police to help him find his phone.

On Sunday, the Times added a correction to the essay, saying, "A picture caption with an earlier version of this essay misidentified the shirtless man shown outside a broken window at the Capitol. He was a videographer working for The Daily Caller, a right-wing website, not one of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol."

A new caption on the photo reads: "A videographer for The Daily Caller, a right-wing website, after being pepper-sprayed during the mayhem at the Capitol, 3:45 p.m."

The correction does not make mention of the removed allegation that McGinniss "punched the door" or was "forced out of the building."

In a Twitter thread, Ingersoll angrily accused the Times of inventing "a story about a credentialed reporter out of whole cloth."

Ingersoll also blasted the Times' correction, accusing the paper of implying that the Daily Caller's reporter "was somehow adjacent to the violence and property destruction."

"This is sickening behavior from the paper of record," Ingersoll tweeted.

Image source: Twitter/@GPIngersoll screenshot

"NYT libeled him, then in their correction, left the implication that POSSIBLY MAYBE because he works for a [right-wing] outlet he may have had some role," he continued.

Image source: Twitter/@GPIngersoll screenshot

He offered his own take on how the correction should have read

"How about: We referred to a man as a rioter and implied he was engaged in violent activity at the capitol. He was a credentialed reporter and was not engaged in violent activity. The NYT regrets the error."