A National Geographic writer falsely said in a new book that Kyle Rittenhouse killed two black men in Wisconsin in 2020.
Kara Cooney wrote in “The Good Kings” that Rittenhouse “used his semi-automatic weapon to kill two black men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, while waging a glorious race war on behalf of his inherited white power.”
Cooney, who appears to be white, said on Twitter that the misinformation “was my mistake, and I apologize.”
“So yeah, tiny detail of the book with a big mistake about a massive American issue. And that’s on me. But the white supremacy is still a problem. And the misogyny is still a problem,” she added.
Cooney and National Geographic Publishing, the book’s publisher, did not respond to requests for comment.
Cooney is an Egyptologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
In “The Good Kings,” she is described as “uncover[ing] the reason why societies have so willingly chosen a dictator over democracy, time and time again.”
CBS, for instance, falsely reported that Rittenhouse crossed state lines with a gun before carrying out the shootings. False claims were also put forth on ESPN, CNN, and ABC.
“I have really good lawyers who are taking care of that right now. So, I’m hoping, one day, there will be accountability for their actions,” Rittenhouse said after the trial regarding Biden and others who made claims about him.
