The author of a fake biography posted on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia has come forward and acknowledged he did it as a practical joke that went "horribly wrong," a newspaper report said.
The Tennessean daily of Nashville, Tennessee, identified the author as Brian Chase, 38, an operations manager for a delivery company.
The report said Chase admitted to creating a biography of journalist John Seigenthaler that falsely identified him as a possible suspect in the assassinations of president John Kennedy and his brother Robert.
Chase was quoted in the newspaper Sunday as saying he posted the false information to play a trick on his co-worker and did not know Wikipedia was used as a serious reference tool. He sought out Siegenthaler to apologize.
"I knew from the news that Mr. Seigenthaler was looking for who did it, and I did it so I needed to let him know in particular that it wasn't anyone out to get him, that it was done as a joke that went horribly, horribly wrong," said Chase.
"I'm very sorry that I wronged the man. He's a great guy. He's really a champion for freedom of speech, and to think that I used the thing that he champions, in a way that made him look bad and hurt him, I'm really sorry I did that."
Source: Agence France-Presse
