Conway blames Iraqi refugees for ‘Bowling Green massacre’ that never happened

President Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway is facing criticism for saying in a Thursday night interview with MSNBC that two Iraqi refugees carried out a massacre that never occurred.

In a discussion in which she defended Trump’s ban on visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries, Conway compared it to what she described as an Obama administration ban on Iraqi refugees for six months following the “Bowling Green massacre.”

{mosads}Conway said: “I bet it’s brand-new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre. Most people don’t know that because it didn’t get covered.”

Many on social media were quick to point out that a “Bowling Green massacre” never occurred.

.@KellyannePolls says that 2 Iraqi refugees “were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre.”
(There was no such massacre.) pic.twitter.com/sD3Nnb5xfE

— Joe Sonka (@joesonka) February 3, 2017

Conway may have referring to a 2011 incident in which two Iraqi nationals who lived in Bowling Green, Ky., were indicted for allegedly attempting to send weapons to Iraqi insurgents “for the purpose of killing U.S. soldiers.” The two men are currently serving life sentences for federal terrorism offenses.

No incident occurred in Bowling Green.

The Obama administration then initiated a review of vetting procedures for refugees entering the U.S. from Iraq, though no ban was put into place. Refugees from Iraq were able to enter the U.S. during the review process.

On Friday morning, Conway tweeted to defend her claim, noting that she meant to refer to “Bowling Green terrorists.”

On @hardball @NBCNews @MSNBC I meant to say “Bowling Green terrorists” as reported here:
https://t.co/nB5SwIEoYI

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) February 3, 2017

— Updated at 8:45 a.m.