Ted Cruz Deletes Tweet With Claim Mounted Canadian Police Trampling Killed Protester, After Daniel Dale Calls Him Out

 
Trucks parked in downtown Ottawa continue to protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, on February 4 2022

Dave Chan/AFP via Getty

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) deleted a tweet on Saturday amplifying an inaccurate report that a protester in Canada died at a hospital due to trampling by a Canadian police horse amid trucker protests against Covid vaccine requirements.

Fox News contributor Sara Carter tweeted on Friday that “reports are the woman trampled by a Canadian horse patrol just died at the hospital.”

She issued a correction on Saturday that stated what she was told “from sources on the ground that someone may have died at a hospital during the trampling was wrong.”

“Someone was taken to a hospital with a heart condition -not due to trampling,” Carter added. “I want to clarify this again and apologize for any confusion.”

Videos on social media showed mounted Canadian police trying to disperse “Freedom Convoy” protesters with their horses, and protest organizers said on Friday some were “horse-trampled.”

Ottawa Police dispute that claim, and tweeted Saturday, “Anyone who fell got up and walked away.”

The police said that a bicycle was thrown in front of a horse, causing it to “trip.” According to Newsweek one individual was arrested for “allegedly intentionally harming a police service animal.”

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale noted on Saturday that the “false story…was amplified by a number of other prominent people, including Sen. Ted Cruz, and has been retweeted more than 11,000 times.”

Cruz soon after deleted his retweet “because the journalist who first reported it now says it was in error.”

“I remain deeply concerned about the abuse—seizing money & employing violence against peaceful protesters—that we’re seeing in Canada,” Cruz added.

Tags: