Released to the public · 31 OCT 2026File TBL-0035
RETRACTED
ABC Airs Kentucky Gun Range Video as Syria Combat
■ The claim
ABC aired footage that it presented as Turkey's attack on Kurdish-held northern Syria.
■ What actually happened
On October 13 and 14, 2019, World News Tonight and Good Morning America ran a clip described as showing the Turkish assault on Syria. Viewers matched it to a nighttime machine-gun shoot at Kentucky's Knob Creek Gun Range, filmed in 2017. ABC removed the video, posted a correction, and said it regretted the error.
■ The proof
The clip matched YouTube video of the Knob Creek Gun Range event, and ABC issued a correction.
■ Original reporting
- Reason: ABC News used Kentucky gun show footage as Syrian warfarehttps://reason.com/2019/10/14/abc-news-used-footage-from-a-kentucky-gun-show-and-said-it-was-syrian-warfare/
■ Corrections, findings & records
- Yahoo News: ABC issues correction after airing Kentucky footagehttps://www.yahoo.com/news/abc-news-issues-correction-airing-172703156.html
- WDRB: Kentucky gun range responds to ABC mix-uphttps://www.wdrb.com/news/kentucky-gun-range-embraces-free-advertising-from-abc-news-mistaking-its-event-for-syrian-bombing/article_c8ddd85c-efb7-11e9-b9ac-5bc68e9852ad.html
- Fox News: ABC apologizes for mistaking Kentucky gun range videohttps://www.foxnews.com/media/abc-news-error-gun-video-syria-turkey
■ Wayback Machine copies
Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.
- Archive copy: Reason: ABC News used Kentucky gun show footage as Syrian warfarehttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://reason.com/2019/10/14/abc-news-used-footage-from-a-kentucky-gun-show-and-said-it-was-syrian-warfare/
Who it helped: Neither partyWrong footage; the error itself made no party claim.
■ Grade
RETRACTED: The outlet itself retracted, corrected, or settled. How we grade →