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MSNBC's Katy Tur Mistakes Fireworks for Gunshots in Jerusalem

May 14, 2018

MSNBC's Katy Tur on Monday confused fireworks for gunshots during a segment about White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah's comments about violence in Gaza.

Shah said at the daily press briefing that the responsibility for the death of more than 50 Palestinians in Gaza "rests squarely with Hamas."

Tur was asking her guests–NBC journalists Matt Bradley in Gaza and Ayman Mohyeldin in Jerusalem–to respond to Shah's statement when fireworks started going off in the background. Tur quickly paused her question to ask ask if the noise was the violence in Gaza.

"Is that, Matt Bradley? Is that shelling?" Tur asked.

"No, Katy. Katy, you're actually hearing that here in Jerusalem and it's actually fireworks going off behind me towards the old city here," Mohyeldin said, "a real indication of the festive atmosphere that Israel has been experiencing for the past 24 hours, a very stark contrast to the images and reality that we're seeing in Gaza unfold."

The fireworks were part of a celebration of the newly opened U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.

This is not the first time a MSNBC host has confused background noise with gunshots. Host Nicolle Wallace mistook the sound of a soda can opening for gunshots last month during a segment on a shooting at the YouTube headquarters.