Dad hits back at Web rumors

A father has denied that a Thursday incident at Shichahai was a deliberate attempt to attract public attention to violence perpetrated by local law enforcement officers.

Tian Yudong, who said he was accompanying his daughter to experience life, told the Global Times on Sunday that he had no connections with The Beijing News and he would like to face his doubters.

Tian and his 9-year-old daughter had a physical confrontation with scenic area management officers, at Shichahai while they sold things by the street side on Thursday. Tian and three officers were injured in the conflict.

The conflict became an overnight sensation after The Beijing News reported the conflict with full-page coverage on Saturday. A subsequent video post, containing a girl's shriek, a man's curse and physical conflicts between the pair and some officers, also went viral.

However, doubts arose on whether the conflict was planned after Weibo user "Liuxingbushilei," who claimed to be a witness, posted another version of the clash on Saturday, claiming that the father and daughter waited there for the officers.

"The man began to curse the officers when they just arrived to tell him to stop his business and the girl jumped in and kicked an officer in the leg," wrote the user, adding that the video online was clipped and only recorded the latter half of the incident. "There was not enough space for people to sit close, so I do not think they could hear us from that far in the crowd, let alone see my daughter kicking the officer in the darkness there," said Tian.

Another Weibo user, "Shenyezouguochanganjie," wrote a post on Saturday afternoon claiming that the father in the conflict is actually Tian Yanhui, deputy editor-in-chief of The Beijing News.

Xicheng district government published a post Saturday evening that the father was not a deputy editor-in-chief of The Beijing News.

Tian Yudong said that he was deputy editor-in-chief of a magazine, but not The Beijing News, and he added that the reason that The Beijing News was the first media on the scene was because some passersby contacted the newspaper.

The Beijing News reporter on the scene, Lin Ye, also denied the rumor on his Tencent Weibo account on Sunday, saying that he received the information from Tian and arrived at the site to cover the case.

Tian admitted that he had complained openly that he would return with cameras ready to record any potential violent law enforcement but said that these claims were made in the heat of the moment.

In a statement on Sunday, the local government published details of the case and suspended the work of the scenic management officers.