Is Michelle Nichols of Reuters a liar?

[7/28/06 UPDATE: Reuters has corrected the article, see below.]

Michelle Nichols of Reuters offers a report about yesterday's Minuteman rally and book launch entitled "Immigration protesters scuffle in New York". As predicted, the MSM coverage of this event did not provide any details on the protesters, and it was biased in another way as well:

Immigration activists clashed at the site of the World Trade Center on Wednesday when an anti-illegal immigration group called for secure borders to avoid a repeat of the September 11 attacks and counterprotesters yelled "racists go home."

Members of the Minuteman Project, which patrols the U.S.-Mexican border for illegal immigrants, pushed and shoved members of an immigrant rights group that showed up at the event.

Jim Gilchrist and Jerome Corsi, authors of "Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders," were whisked away when some immigrant rights supporters broke through a police barrier and scuffled with Minutemen supporters...

If you're familiar with the coverage from the MSM - and especially Reuters and the AP - you've probably already assumed that Michelle Nichols is lying in the second paragraph. And, her third paragraph even implies that she's not telling the whole truth.

Then, there's this slightly less biased report from Samantha Henry of the Herald News:

As the rally continued, several pro-immigrant supporters broke away from their police-designated pen across the street and surrounded the Minutemen, who numbered about 30. Several shouting matches ensued.

And, in this audio interview, Gilchrist says that Michelle Nichols is indeed a liar. He also says that the pro-illegal immigration forces infiltrated their group with four protesters, who would occasionaly break away and rush the mike. And, he says his wife was pushed by protesters.

If Reuters were concerned with their reputation - instead of apparently being more concerned with pushing either a far-left or pro-cheap labor agenda - they'd look into whether their reporter is telling the truth or not.

There's some background on Reuters here, and also write to those sources that published this report:

longislandpress.com/index.php?show=contact (longislandpress.com/?cp=162&show=article&a_id=9221)

abcnews.go.com/Reference/story?id=54216 (abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2240196)

editor *at* reuters.com

7/28/06 UPDATE: At this page, Reuters provides an update, saying "Corrects description of scuffle in second paragraph". The other paragraphs appear the same, here's the new second para:

Supporters of the Minuteman Project, which patrols the U.S.-Mexican border for illegal immigrants, and immigrant rights activists, who showed up at the Minuteman event, became involved in a heated argument.

There are photos of the event here (eldiariony.com/galerias/minuteman072706/index.htm) and here: news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/ffd6d165bc0241aa9f7174f2395fe7a3 news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/cd94dd2dc1c645b0903b3fbd0f475d0b news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/57fce14624d846149d975c1260726062 news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/48f54511174041838db3c320ad09ec72 news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/08ec463a317c4ac2b2e7896631bb5f2a news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/057935e972174069baf5b48c725161d0 news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/56873f18f72c41bf9b4be6df5d76be77 news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/1b999a6c022745cabdacdfb98567831a news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060726/480/8d3e56eb2a534506aa14aeaea59353d5

Immigration · Thu, 07/27/2006 - 08:40 · Importance: 4