Only hours after The Daily Beast ran an exclusive story on a black veteran who was taunted by police as he lay dying on the floor of his jail cell, New York Daily News columnist Shaun King wrote an op-ed on the exact same topic that appears to borrow heavily from the Daily Beast piece.

Daily Beast editors began calling on King on his copycat version of their story almost immediately after it was published.

But King’s copy goes far worse than just a lack of attribution; here’s Daily Beast reporter Kate Briquelet‘s version:

When Williams arrived to the county jail’s booking area in the early morning of Oct. 22, Owasso officer Jack Wells slammed him to the floor while trying to handcuff him, according to the cop’s own interview with OSBI. Officer Wells told OSBI he “landed on top of Elliott’s shoulder and head,” but that the prisoner “appeared to be fine with no injuries.” Still, the Tulsa sheriff office’s appeared to disagree. In an internal report, the sheriff’s department says Williams struggled after the fall, and that his condition was captured on booking cameras. “At this time it is obvious that Williams is having a difficult time standing,” the document stated.

And here’s King:

When Williams arrived to the county jail’s booking area in the early morning of Oct. 22, Owasso officer Jack Wells slammed him to the floor while trying to handcuff him, according to the cop’s own interview with OSBI. Officer Wells told OSBI he “landed on top of Williams’ shoulder and head,” but that the prisoner “appeared to be fine with no injuries.” Still, the Tulsa sheriff office’s appeared to disagree. In an internal report, the sheriff’s department says Williams struggled after the fall, and that his condition was captured on booking cameras. “At this time it is obvious that Williams is having a difficult time standing,” the document stated.

If those excerpts look identical, it’s because they are identical.

Daily Beast senior editor Justin Miller is pulling no punches, straightforwardly accusing King of plagiarism on Twitter.

King responded to the allegation with a, uh, unique defense, saying that he was just “quoting” the piece. (Again, to reiterate, King did not link to the Daily Beast piece or put Briquilet’s words in quotation marks.)

A COMPLETE FABRICATION. I did not plagiarize this. It’s a direct damn quote. Copying @NYDailyNews & @jimrichNYDN https://t.co/I9RH8Neeo3 — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

An editor’s note was added to the piece after Miller’s criticism went viral. “An editing error mistakenly removed attribution to a story originally published by The Daily Beast,” the note reads. “The mistake has been corrected. The News regrets the error.”

UPDATE –– 4:19 pm EST: King continued to give his account of what happened on Twitter, even invoking Clinton ties to the publication:

1. No. I did not plagiarize @TheDailyBeast or @FiveThirtyEight or anyone else. Where I attributed & linked to both pic.twitter.com/PDfapqWucx — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

2. Here is what I submitted to my editors THIS MORNING where I properly attributed to Kate of @TheDailyBeast pic.twitter.com/sVzblHzNqu — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

3. Here is where I properly attributed to @FiveThirtyEight. Notice I link, credit them, and include block quotes. pic.twitter.com/wWFJLAEeJX — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

4. Our editorial team @NYDailyNews has apologized to me for not properly including the attributions that I provided. — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

5. In both instances I provided: a. Links back to 538 & Daily Beast

b. Clear written attribution

c. Clear block quotes of their material — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

6. After I write a story, submit it to editors, and respond to any questions they have, I do not go back and read the live web version. — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

7. Anyway, it was handled poorly by @TheDailyBeast. They should’ve contacted my editors FIRST before blasting me on Twitter. — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

8. Also, Chelsea Clinton is on the board of the parent company of The Daily Beast. They ride HARD for Hillary. Sure that played a role. — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

9. Hell, I think too highly of myself, my family, this profession, and the causes I fight for to plagiarize. Take that bullshit on somewhere — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

10. Thankful for our Editor-In-Chief @jimrichNYDN and for our team @NYDailyNews for responding. I have to get back to work now. — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 19, 2016

UPDATE –– 11:55 pm EST: The New York Daily News has said that is has fired an editor for what it calls, “egregious and inexplicable errors” found in the columns of Shaun King.

#BREAK: Statement from New York Daily News editor Jim Rich regarding @ShaunKing situation >> pic.twitter.com/4KJu7PihAN — Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) April 19, 2016

[Image via screengrab]

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