Jeff “Rock” Harris in his hidey hole

William sends us a link to the Greensboro News-Record (a reprint of the Fayetteville Observer article) which reports today what we all knew yesterday in the first two minutes of reading Jeffrey “Rock” Harris’ fantasy about his exploits as a phony Ranger;

On Tuesday, the Free Press removed the story from its website.

“It’s bogus,” Managing Editor Bryan Hanks said. “The guy is a fake. We’re certain.”

Attempts by the Observer to reach Harris for this story were unsuccessful.

Yeah, the Observer really should leave the abortion of a story up along with the pictures of Harris. Are they going door-to-door clipping the article out of the print editions? They need to leave the article on the internet so Harris’ future prospective employers can read it.

Hanks, the Free Press managing editor, said the article was removed from the newspaper’s website after its accuracy began to be questioned Tuesday morning. Hanks said the newspaper intends to publish a follow-up article on Harris but had spoken to “three solid sources,” including [Mark Bowden, author of “Black Hawk Down”], who refute Harris’ account of his military career.

The Free Press replaced the Harris article with a statement on its website that said “questions have arisen about the accuracy of information provided by the primary source” in the article.

I’m sure the police would give a bank robber a pass after interviewing his accomplices. So much for journalistic skepticism. But Harris played the role that journalists come to expect – the damaged goods guy who was influenced by his horrible experiences forced on him by the generals and politicians.

I hope someone finds him and stomps a mudhole in his ass.

Category: Phony soldiers