Attention fact-checkers and big-tech censors: The New York Times has been peddling fake news and you missed it.
The New York Times issued a long-overdue correction to their reporting that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died from injuries sustained during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. In a report published on Jan. 8., The Times cited anonymous sources to claim that Officer Sicknick died from injuries he sustained after being struck in the head by a fire extinguisher during the riot. That original claim, however, has since been discredited.
"UPDATE: New information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police," the story now reads, with a purported last update of Feb. 12.
Better late than never. Maybe the Times wanted to see how the impeachment trial was going before retracting a false claim that was used against the former president.
Back on Feb. 2, even CNN had gotten the memo that Officer Sicknick's cause of death wasn't as clear cut as the Times told its readers.
Following the Capitol riot, Sicknick returned to the police precinct and suddenly collapsed. He was taken to a hospital, where he passed away a day later. According to CNN, investigators pursuing a federal murder case are "vexed by a lack of evidence that could prove someone caused his death as he defended the Capitol during last month's insurrection."
"Authorities have reviewed video and photographs that show Sicknick engaging with rioters amid the siege but have yet to identify a moment in which he suffered his fatal injuries, law enforcement officials familiar with the matter said," reads the report.
Citing a law enforcement official, CNN reported in early February that "medical examiners did not find signs that the officer sustained any blunt force trauma, so investigators believe that early reports that he was fatally struck by a fire extinguisher are not true."
While over 200 Capitol rioters have been arrested, so far no one has been charged in connection with the death of Officer Sicknick
But the Times stood by its reporting while Democrats attempted to set the bar for impeachment even lower than the one they had just set a little more than a year ago. The bar is so low now that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is warning that Republicans might have to impeach Vice President Kamala Harris should Republicans take back control of the House in 2022.
And the bar for fair reporting has been set so low at the Times that even CNN has them beat.