Bowling Green 'massacre' mishap leads to fake memorial

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WZTV) - Bowling Green, Kentucky is making national news for something that never actually happened.

It started with a mistake senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway made during a live TV interview when she referred to the “Bowling Green massacre.”

Conway made the mishap Thursday night defending the White House's new refugee ban.

It brought plenty of jokes and some relief the incident that did happen in Bowling Green never turned violent.

Inside Bowling Green's town square is a memorial to a mistake.

“We're not mocking vigils of course, nothing like that,” resident Josh Davis said.

Instead, Davis says his signs are mocking something else.

"Another one of her 'alternative facts,'" Davis said.

This is the interview by Conway that’s been making headlines:

"President (Barack) Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here, were radicalized, and were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre."

Conway later corrected herself, saying she meant to refer to the Bowling Green-based refugees who pleaded guilty to trying to send weapons to insurgents in Iraq.

Mayor Bruce Wilkerson has received calls from around the world about the case and Conway's mischaracterization.

“It was just simply a mistake and after the interview I understand she corrected the word ‘massacre’ with ‘terrorist,’ so we appreciate the clarification,” Wilkerson said.

It would appear Bowling Green appreciates the humor even more.

People are ordering T-shirts and that memorial is actually growing, with the help of a man who isn't laughing about all of this.

“There's nothing funny about what's going on right now," Davis said.

Conway's comments also contained incorrect statements about former President Obama. He didn't ban Iraqi refugees after the Bowling Green incident, but did order a re-vetting of more than 57,000 of them.