USA: Protesters picket NBC after misreporting on Turkish coup

Protesters gathered outside the headquarters of NBC News in New York on Friday to criticise the network's coverage of the failed Turkish coup attempt which took place July 15.
During the coup attempt NBC News erroneously shared a statement on social media, attributed to an unnamed US military official, which alleged Turkish President Recep Erdogan had fled the country and was en route to Germany to secure asylum. The statement went viral on social media, and was widely circulated in traditional media including within Turkey itself.
"As Americans we are simply insulted and outraged when NBC News was reporting wrong, distorted, information about the attempted coup in the Republic of Turkey," said protest organiser Ibrahim Kutluk.
The rumour reported by NBC has been cited by political analysts, including Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, as a potential way to "further the chance of the success of the coup within Turkey, because if the president has fled then he has lost control."
The Turkish government has since accused Fethullah Gulen, a religious leader and former ally of Erdogan who lives in the United States, of involvement in the coup, which was initiated by a cadre of senior military figures with alleged links to the 'Gulen movement'.
The diplomatic spat over Gulen's potential extradition from the US to Turkey, alongside Erdogan's government crackdown on his critics following the attempted coup, has led to an alleged rift between Washington and Ankara.