Fox News fell victim to hackers early Monday morning who took control of the network's
politics Twitter feed announcing multiple times that US President Barack Obama had been shot and killed.
The rogue transmissions began
just before 2am Washington D.C. time with a tweet that read "Just regained full access to our Twitter and email. Happy 4th."
RELATED:Liveblogging the Osama raid on Twitter, unwittinglyThe Numbers Crunch: Flotilla stories flood Top 10Approximately 20 minutes later the Twitter feed said "@BarackObama has
just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President
Barack Obama is dead."
A few
short minutes later, the initial tweet claiming Obama was dead was
followed by a slightly more detailed transmission: "@BarackObama has
just passed. Nearly 45 minutes ago, he was shot twice in the lower
pelvic area and in the neck; shooter unknown. Bled out."
Subsequent tweets repeated the information, stating that Obama was shot
while eating at a restaurant in Iowa where he was campaigning and vowing
to catch the shooter.
The hoax tweets ended with a
good luck message for US Vice President Joe
Biden, who would take over the presidency in the event of Obama's
death. "We wish @joebiden the best of luck as our new President of the
United States. In such a time of madness, there's light at the end of
tunnel."
Fox News on Monday apologized for the embarrassing tweets. "Hackers sent out several malicious and false tweets claiming that
President Obama had been assassinated. Those reports are incorrect, of
course, and the president is spending the July 4 holiday with his
family. The hacking is being investigated, and FoxNews.com regrets any
distress the false tweets may have created," a statement by the network
said.