The news media is at it again. The teen who filmed the MAGA hat attack and theft by Kino Jiminez at a San Antonio, Texas, Whataburger restaurant denies accusations reported by the media–and then retracted (by only some news sites)–that he and his friends provoked the attack by allegedly saying racist remarks: “an article was released saying someone who was in the restaurant (even tho the only ones in the restaurant was my group and the guy who confronted us’s group.) said that we had provoked the man with racial slurs and much worse things, which never happened…this article was pulled due to “concerns about the legitimacy of the statements.”

https://twitter.com/brxpug/status/1014977765374877702

https://twitter.com/brxpug/status/1014978859106697217

The three teen victims of Whataburger attack, owner of stolen MAGA hat Hunter Richard center, image via Joe Galli, WOAI-TV, You Tube.

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The video of the attack that went viral (10,700,000 views on Twitter and counting) does not include what led up to the attack, but it does show the attacker using racist language and not complaining about the boys doing so.

So went out for a 2am snack and my friend (wearing a MAGA hat) had his hat stolen and a drink thrown in his face (and mine, you can see my arms on the left of the video) pic.twitter.com/B3QjBFIxPk — brax ❄ (@brxpug) July 4, 2018

KENS-TV in San Antonio reported Thursday, “Witness claims viral Whataburger attack may have been motivated by racist remarks“

The article has since been edited to retract outrageously inflammatory racist comments an alleged witness claimed to have heard the boys say but that KENS took down, noting in a statement of ‘after the damage has been done’ journalism accountability:

“Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included quotes from the alleged witness. Those have been removed from this copy due to concerns about the legitimacy of the statements.”

WFAA-TV, a sister station to KENS, picked up the article and has not corrected it as of Friday evening.

Excerpts from the WFAA version:

Witness: Viral Whataburger attack may have been motivated by racist remarks

The witness, who has asked to remain anonymous, told KENS 5 they witnessed the three teens involved in the video joking about ‘hanging blacks’ and killing off minorities before the attack occurred

Author: Staff

Published: 1:36 PM CDT July 5, 2018

Updated: 5:36 PM CDT July 5, 2018 …The witness, who has asked to remain anonymous, said he and his family saw the three teens involved in the video joking about “hanging blacks” and killing off minorities before the recorded attack occurred. The man who spoke to KENS requested anonymity after he said his family, including his young children, were receiving death threats for speaking out about what they witnessed. He said he didn’t see the attack, but did see an altercation inside of the Whataburger before deciding to leave with his family as things got heated. “They were talking about for the Fourth of July hanging black people from trees, that that would be the perfect party,” the witness claimed. “Hopefully, with Donald Trump within the next few years, we can celebrate a white country, a real country without blacks. Maybe we can deport them to Africa.” The witness said the teens mentioned that they wished the movie The Purge was real, but only against African Americans and Latinos. “They said they wanted it to be legal for white people to kill any other race for the Fourth of July,” the witness claimed. He also claimed during the alleged racist rhetoric, another man in the restaurant asked the group of teens to stop making such comments. That’s when the witness said he cut dinner short and had his family leave the restaurant before things escalated. He said that later that evening when he saw the viral incident floating around on social media that he recognized the teens, who he said were spewing racist rhetoric. “I tried not to listen to their comments,” he said. “I didn’t think it would get to the point where an older man would address kids.”

The Austin sister station to KENS AND WFAA, KVUE-TV posted a correction and retraction.

The national media, led by the New York tabloids Post and Daily News, are repeating without verifying the racist smears against the boys.

The New York Post: Teen in MAGA hat reportedly made racist comments before man snapped

By Natalie O’Neill July 6, 2018 | 9:01pm | Updated

Man arrested for tossing drink at teen wearing MAGA hat

Play Video

An attack on a teenage Trump supporter that was caught in a viral video may have been motivated by vile racial slurs, a report said Friday. Hunter Richard, 16, was eating with pals at a burger joint in Texas, when Kino Jimenez, 30, allegedly ripped off his “Make America Great Again” hat and dumped a cup of soda on him, according to the local station WFMY-TV. Jimenez was charged with theft Thursday night. But a witness said Friday he overheard the group of teens joking about “hanging blacks” and killing off minorities just moments before Jimenez lashed out at the teen. “They were talking about, for the Fourth of July, [that] hanging black people from trees would be the perfect party,” the witness told the local station. “[They said] hopefully, with Donald Trump within the next few years, we can celebrate a white country, a real country without blacks. Maybe we can deport them to Africa.” The witness said he would not reveal his identity out of fear of retribution from fans of President Trump. The teens also said they wished the horror movie “The Purge” was real — in order to cleanse the world of African-Americans and Latinos…”

The Post linked to an article at WFMY-TV that has been pulled. WFMY is actually a Greensboro, North Carolina sister station of KENS.

The New York Daily News: MAGA hat-wearing teen may have spewed racist remarks before Texas Whataburger assault The Daily News also linked to the taken down WFMY article even though the link is labeled “KENS 5”.

By MEGAN CERULLO JUL 06, 2018 | 3:15 PM …But another customer claims there’s more to the story, and that the group of teens made racially charged comments before the incident unfolded, KENS 5 reported. The witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told KENS 5 that the teens in the video joked about “hanging blacks” and killing off minorities before they were targeted. “They were talking about the Fourth of July hanging black people from trees that that would be the perfect party. Hopefully, with Donald Trump within the next few years, we can celebrate a white country, a real country without blacks. Maybe we can deport them to Africa,” the witness told KENS 5. “They said they wanted it to be legal for white people to kill any other race for the Fourth of July,” he claimed. The witness said he led his family out of the eatery after hearing the comments, but was still surprised that the altercation ensued. “I tried not to listen to their comments. I didn’t think it would get to the point where an older man would address kids,” he said.”

The bogus Daily News article was picked up and repeated by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Inquistr repeated the smear (by Aaron Homer, July 6): Hunter Richard, Teen Who Had MAGA Hat Stolen, Was Making Racist Remarks Before Incident, Witness Claims “The witness says Hunter and his friends were joking about ‘hanging blacks’ and ‘killing off minorities’ before the alleged assault.”

Inquistr linked to the uncorrected WFAA repeat from KENS.

News report by WOAI-TV featuring an interview with the three teen victims conducted the day of the attack shows them to be quite normal and not the type to talk about hanging black people while in a restaurant at any time of day–let alone two in the morning.

Hunter Richard sent WOAI-TV News 4 San Antonio photos of him wearing his MAGA hat after it was returned to him on Friday.

‘MAGA’ hat returned to teen https://t.co/zRvUx3eb17 pic.twitter.com/016ovZbLft — News 4 San Antonio (@News4SA) July 6, 2018

Meanwhile the Bexar County Jail released the booking photo for a newly clean shaven Kino Jimenez.

Jiminez reportedly told KSAT-TV he was triggered by the MAGA hat as if it were a KKK hood but apparently made no mention of any alleged racist remarks by the boys.