The Washington D.C. Police Department had egg on its face on Wednesday and Thursday, walking back an incendiary claim about an Election Day crime that drew widespread criticism, according to WUSA. 

Police told news outlets about a Wednesday night stabbing involving members of the white supremacist group Proud Boys. 

Three members of the Proud Boys, two men and a woman, said they were stabbed. Police ran with the story, notifying news outlets that the people who stabbed them were members of a local Black Lives Matter group.

It turns out, this was not true and the alleged assailants were not affiliated with the Black Lives Matter group. 

NBC4 Washington reported that police later amended their statement to say it was the victims who claimed the alleged assailants were part of the Black Lives Matter group but that there was no evidence to prove this. 

The stabbing took place near the White House and occurred during a larger protest about the election. The police repeatedly changed their story, causing even more outrage. At first, they said one woman was stabbed and three others were injured but then they changed that to say one woman and two men were hurt. 

Chief of Police Peter Newsham walked back the claim during a press conference but told reporters that if the Proud Boy members were attacked because they were a part of the group, hate crime charges could be filed. 

"At 2:30 in the morning when officers are trying to gather information on the scene, that information is preliminary in nature and oftentimes, unfortunately, it changes," Chief Peter Newsham said in a Wednesday afternoon news briefing, according to WJLA. "So all I can say is that after more extensive investigation with the victims of the crime, we don't know who they were affiliated with."

Police are still searching for the three suspects, but the Washington D.C. chapter of Black Lives Matter bashed the police for trying to implicate the group and the movement in something that was unrelated. 

They also slammed WUSA and other news outlets for running with the story and stoking racial angst during a particularly volatile time for the country. 

In a longer statement, the Black Lives Matter local chapter said the entire ordeal was an attempt by the police to discredit the organization and stoke violence against its members. 

"We demand an independent, fair, and impartial investigation into last night’s violence triggered by white supremacist groups. Violent white extremists want nothing more than to antagonize and intimidate people who exercise their fundamental right to participate in public demonstrations," the group said in a statement.

"We condemn the MPD’s intentional spread of disinformation that emboldens white supremacists and undermines our movement in defense of Black lives. MPD's false statements endanger our lives. We also demand the MPD put an end to intimidation and suppression tactics that undermine the right of our people to be in the streets," the group noted.

The statement added that the group wants a full retraction, which many news outlets obliged. WUSA includes a note at the top of their story now that says the police "do not know whether the suspects and victims are affiliated with protest groups."

But WJLA's story still carries the implication that the official Black Lives Matter group was somehow involved. Even after the police retraction, the WJLA headline states, "DC police say ID'ing stabbing victims as Proud Boys, suspects as BLM group was premature."

"MPD’s statement serves no other purpose than to stoke fear and incite violence on our communities. It is alarming that MPD would release this statement without any actual knowledge that BLM had something to do with did or did not happen," Black Lives Matter DC said.

"MPD has shown us they will protect white supremacists and criminalize BLM. White supremacist get private metro trains, police caravan and protection from MPD but Black lives get criminalized and persecuted in the media and criminal legal system. Our movement has called out white supremacists, trumpism, and voter suppression, and in response we’ve received death threats and harassment," the group added. 

Newsweek later identified one of the alleged victims as Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio.