Washington Post slammed for claiming Jacob Blake was 'unarmed' during altercation with Kenosha police

The Washington Post is under fire for falsely reporting that Jacob Blake was "unarmed" during his altercation with Kenosha, Wis. police. 

Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced during a news conference on Tuesday that the officers involved in the August shooting of Blake will not be charged. 

Graveley said Blake was armed with a knife that was not visible in the video footage and admitted to having one during the incident. Statements that he was unarmed contradict what Blake told authorities, he said. 

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However, not only were such details apparently omitted by the Washington Post, the paper reported the contrary. 

"Blake, who witnesses said had been trying to break up an argument between two women, was unarmed and shot as he walked back toward his vehicle," the Post wrote.

The same sentiment was shared on Twitter, writing "Police officers won't be charged in shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who was shot 7 times in the back in Kenosha, Wis."

Critics slammed the reporting on social media. 

"Irresponsible that news outlets keep framing things this dishonestly in such cases," conservative writer AG Hamilton reacted. "It's not even really in dispute that Blake was armed with a knife, no evidence that race was relevant, and the article manages to leave out most of the background facts related to the case."

The Washington Examiner quoted Graveley as having said that Blake was armed.

"Jacob Blake, while actively resisting, arms himself with a knife… It is absolutely incontrovertible that Jacob Blake was armed with a knife... Jacob Blake, in all of the times he spoke to DCI, admits he possessed a knife," Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy quoted Graveley, noting that "WaPo doesn't mention this in its story."

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"The investigators provided evidence including Blake's testimony that he had a knife. Why is the media doing this?" journalist Zaid Jilani asked. "The DA is now showing video of Blake with the knife and audio of people yelling at him to drop the knife. Then he provided a photograph of the knife. That Blake himself testified later that he had! And the Washington Post is just going Infowars on this."

"Notice how 'refused clear police commands, reaching for knife' didn’t make it into this headline," radio host Buck Sexton wrote. 

"You keep using that word... unarmed I do not think it means what you think it means," The Daily Wire editor Cabot Phillips told the Post. 

Following the backlash, the Post issued a correction in its report. 

"An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Jacob Blake as unarmed. While his family has said he was not armed when shot by police, prosecutors on Tuesday said video evidence depicts him holding a knife. The story has been corrected," the Post added to the top of its article. 

In addition, the Post deleted its tweet, later writing, "We’ve deleted a previous tweet that incorrectly described Jacob Blake as unarmed. While his family has said he was not armed when shot by police, prosecutors on Tuesday said video evidence depicts him holding a knife. The story has been corrected.

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Even after its corrections, critics slammed the paper over the error that was made. 

"The Washington Post has deleted the original tweet and posted this sub-par correction. Which doesn't explain the original mistake," A.G. Hamilton reacted following his first tweet. 

"Your entire publication is garbage," The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis scolded the Post. "From the Russian collusion hoax, to the Covington hoax, to the Ukraine impeachment hoax, to running literal Chinese Communist Party propaganda, to white-knighting for Antifa and BLM terrorists, to this nonsense. Garbage."

"I’m glad they corrected this but they could have avoided it altogether with minimum effort at reporting. Blake admitted to having a knife and it was seen on video. The DA confirmed this again during the presser," radio host Dana Loesch wrote. "If the goal was truly about news gathering and informing the public, as opposed to inflaming tensions, this would have been included. Entire city blocks have burned and they just help pour the gas."

Fox News reached out to The Washington Post for comment. 

Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.