Fox News misreported a Monty Python reference on Reddit as a true account of in-fighting in the Seattle 'autonomous zone'

• A Fox News host on Friday read out a post on Reddit that she claimed was evidence of infighting in an "autonomous zone" set up by Seattle protesters.
• The post is entitled "I didn't vote for Raz," and the host said it was a "sign of rebellion" against Raz Simone, one of the leaders of the autonomous zone.
• In fact the post is an almost word-for-word play on a scene in 1975 movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

A Fox News host mistook a joke on Reddit referencing a Monty Python movie for evidence of real infighting in the autonomous zone set up by protesters in Seattle.

In Friday night's edition of "The Story," host Martha MacCallum read from the Reddit post, claiming it was evidence of discord in the area which the protesters have named CHAZ, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.

The post is titled "I didn't vote for Raz," and MacCallum claimed it was referencing Raz Simone, a rapper identified as an unofficial leader in CHAZ.

—andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) June 13, 2020

MacCallum reported that the post was evidence of "infighting among some of the occupiers and some signs of rebellion against Raz Simone."

"I didn't vote for Raz - I thought we had an anonymous collective," the post continues.

"An anarcho-syndicalist commune at the least, we should take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week."

In fact, the Reddit post is an almost word-for-word repeat of a scene in the 1975 movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

In the scene two peasants, played by Terry Jones and Michael Palin, satirize the jargon of contemporary left-wing radicals to mock the hereditary power of King Arthur.

Here's a link to the full scene.

"We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune," says Palin's character.

"We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.

"But all the decision of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting. By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs, but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major issues."

The Reddit post referring to the CHAZ even included an out-of-place mention of someone who "threw a sword" — which belongs to the legend of King Arthur.

On Twitter people mocked the network for failing to spot the reference.

—Black Lives Matter (Dr. Waitman Wade Beorn) (@waitmanb) June 13, 2020

The CHAZ was formed amid the George Floyd anti-racism protests, and has become a favored target for President Donald Trump and his allies in the media, who have sought to portray it as a hotbed of anarchy and chaos.

On Sunday, Fox News removed manipulated pictures from its website which appeared designed to suggest that the CHAZ was more threatening and violent than it is.