Multiple ABC news shows, including ABC World News Tonight and Good Morning America, aired compelling footage of the ongoing conflict in the Syrian War. Tracer fire lit up the night, turning targets into giant fireballs in what appeared to be chilling footage of death.

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Newscasters narrated the footage to paint the picture of the struggle. Commentators describe the Syrian attack on the Kurds along the border, describing death and destruction.

The only problem – they made it all up.

ABC News Uses Fake Syrian War Footage

The mistake went viral after Wojciech Pawelczyk, and employee of One America News Network host Jack Posobiec, called it out on Twitter, according to freebacon.com. It became quickly apparent that ABC grabbed footage of the world famous Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. It then mistakenly attempted to pass it off as genuine combat footage. The news organization quickly took down the footage. It later issued a statement after the broadcast began blowing up online.

“We’ve taken down video that aired on World News Tonight Sunday and Good Morning America this morning that appeared to be from the Syrian border immediately after questions were raised about its accuracy,” a spokesperson said, according to freebacon.com. “ABC News regrets the error.”

The reason for the lie? Well, the broadcasts served as commentary against President Donald Trump’s recent announcement he was withdrawing troops fro Northern Syria ahead of the coming planned offensive against Kurdish militias. Those same militias previously fought alongside U.S. troops, and the withdraw sparked criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.

“A source familiar with the matter told the Free Bacon that ABC News had obtained the footage from a third party – who cited the dangerous situation on the border to avoid giving fuller details – and that there would be an investigation into how the footage made it on to air,” reported freebacon.com.

So at best, ABC showed gross negligence in using Knob Creek machine gun footage. However, at worst, the news organization outright lied to its viewers. In either case, the video provides another example of why the 2A community often maintains mistrust of mainstream media.