WASHINGTON — Initial reports of shots being fired during a Coast Guard exercise near the route of President Barack Obama’s motorcade Friday afternoon proved false, raising questions about how the media and the military handled the incident.
The exercise, which the Coast Guard said was routine and planned in advance, occurred on the Potomac River near the Pentagon, where Obama attended a memorial ceremony for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
CNN and Fox began reporting that the Coast Guard had opened fire on a suspicious vessel. On Twitter, CNN reported: “Coast Guard confronts boat as Obama visits Pentagon; police scanner reports say shots fired.”
It took almost 30 minutes for the network to get clarification and report that the movement by the boats was merely a training exercise.
The false reports of gunfire were based on radio calls in which Coast Guard personnel voiced imitation “bang bang” noises, said agency spokeswoman Lt. Nadine Santiago.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs rebuked CNN for not confirming its information. “Before we report things like this, checking would be good,” Gibbs said.
CNN defended its reporting, saying in a statement that the network had aired the story after observing the maneuvers of Coast Guard vessels on the river and hearing a radio transmission in which someone said: “We have expended 10 rounds.”
Before reporting the incident, CNN said, it contacted the Coast Guard public-affairs office and a spokeswoman for the agency told the network that she was unaware of any activity on the river.
