The BBC has surprised us all…….a story about a Muslim who isn’t a hero…The myth of Zouheir, a ‘hero Muslim security guard’ in Paris
The BBC tells us that this is ‘A compelling story about a heroic Muslim security guard stopping a suicide bomber from entering the Stade de France on Friday, saving perhaps hundreds of lives, is making the rounds on social media. But it’s not true.’
How do they know it’s not true?…
‘The rumour sprang from a gripping account of the events outside the stadium which was published by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. The story quoted a security guard who asked to only be identified by his first name, Zouheir. The man described how one of the suicide attackers had a ticket to the match between France and Germany, but was turned away from the gates when guards found his explosive vest. The man backed away from security guards and detonated the explosives.
Zouheir gave a detailed account of events at the stadium, statements that were confirmed to the Wall Street Journal reporters by a police officer. But although the story relied on his account, it wasn’t actually him who turned away the bomber – a detail that was confirmed to BBC Trending by Journal reporter Joshua Robinson.‘
Hmmm….‘a detail confirmed to BBC Trending’……the BBC gives the impression that the WSJ story was misleading and it was ony the BBC’s intrepid investigative journalism that uncovered the truth about that ‘detail’. However, that’s not true…the original WSJ story quite clearly stated that the security guard was not stationed at the bomber’s location and was merely relaying what the guards who were there had told him…
‘PARIS—At least one of the attackers outside France’s national soccer stadium had a ticket to the game and attempted to enter the 80,000-person venue, according to a Stade de France security guard who was on duty and French police.
The guard—who asked to be identified only by his first name, Zouheir—said the attacker was discovered wearing an explosives vest when he was frisked at the entrance to the stadium about 15 minutes into the game. France was playing an exhibition against Germany inside.
While attempting to back away from security, Zouheir said, the attacker detonated the vest, which was loaded with explosives and bolts, according to Paris prosecutor François Molins. Zouheir, who was stationed by the players’ tunnel, said he was briefed on the sequence by the security frisking team at the gate.’
Kind of suspect the BBC missed the ‘trending’ story about Zouheir and would have run it if they had known of it….now, scrambling for a story try to take the professional high ground, they criticise their fellow journalists in the Press for their mistake. The only disappointment must be that the hated Daily Mail got the story right…
‘The terrorist walked away from the guard after he was frisked and detonated his vest moments later. Investigators admitted that all of the terrorists wore identical explosive vests. The Wall Street Journal spoke to one of the security team on duty at the stadium named only as Zouheir. He said that one of his colleagues turned the terrorist away after frisking the suspect, who is believed to have had a match ticket. ‘
The story ran on Sunday originally so why does BBC Trending only pick up on it today (Bit ironic for a news service supposed to be ‘on trend’)….The BBC’s Mike Wending Tweets to the WSJ journo…..
@landauro @JoshRobinson23 just to be clear, he wasn’t the one who stopped the bomber at SdF, right? People jumping to conclusions…
@mwendling He was not. He was a source on the story that we later stood up with confirmation from a police source.
Liked this exchange…
But, but, but the religion is soooo important….
Curious how a ‘hero’ has to be ‘Muslim’ but a terrorist most definitely is not!