If you go to the American Spectator’s website, you will first be confronted with a pop-up notification soliciting money donations to help fund their Young Journalist Training Program. “Earnest and principled reporters,” they claim, are the outcome of “patriots like yourself” who would support “the next generation of wit, whimsy, and wonky warriors.” Look for yourself:

Unfortunately, “earnest” and “principled” reporting is probably the last thing that you’d be supporting if you were idiotic enough to donate money to the American Spectator. Take the “principled” actions of Assistant Editor Patrick Howley, who yesterday decided to clandestinely sabotage the Occupy DC protest’s peaceful demonstration by breaching security guards at the entrance of the National Air and Space Museum with the clear aim of inciting a riot. As a consequence, this event ended with protesters, journalists, and tourists being pepper-sprayed by guards who probably would not have done so otherwise. From Firedoglake:

Immediately after the incident began hitting the newswires Howley published a “Breaking News” story with The American Spectator online [article deleted, here's an original screenshot] in which he reveals that he had consciously infiltrated the group on Friday with the intent to discredit the movement.  He states that “as far as anyone knew I was part of this cause — a cause that I had infiltrated the day before in order to mock and undermine in the pages of The American Spectator — and I wasn’t giving up before I had my story.”

According to Howley’s story he joined the group in its march toward the Air and Space Museum but the protesters on the march were unwilling to be confrontational.  He states “they lack the nerve to confront authority. From estimates within the protest, only ten people were pepper-sprayed, and as far as I could tell I was the only one who got inside.”

He claims that upon arrival at the Museum the group of approximately one hundred protesters split into two factions with the smaller of the two “rushing the doors,” the majority “staying behind.”  Howley then admits in his piece that he snuck past the guard at the first entrance in order to “infiltrate” the building and then confronted another guard.  He then “sprinted toward the door” at which time he was first hit with pepper-spray.

As he describes his next actions “I forced myself into the doors and sprinted blindly across the floor of the Air and Space Museum, drawing the attention of hundreds of stunned khaki-clad tourists (some of whom began snapping off disposable-camera portraits of me).”

Fully inside, despite the orders of the security guards that the Museum was closed to the public, Howley made his way upstairs – to the location where a banner was unfurled protesting the Museum’s exhibit of unmanned drone weapons.

“I strained to glance behind me at the dozens of protesters I was sure were backing me up, and then I got hit again, this time with a cold realization: I was the only one who had made it through the doors. As two guards pointed at me and started running, I dodged a circle of gawking old housewives and bolted upstairs.”

He then found himself “stumbling around aircraft displays with just enough vision to keep tabs on my uniformed pursuers. “The museum is now closed!” screamed one of the guards as alarms sounded. “Everyone make your way to the exits immediately!” Using my jacket to cover my face — which I could feel swelling to Elephant Man proportions — I ducked through the confused tourists and raced out the exit. “Hey, you!” shouted a female guard reaching for my arm. “Get back here!” But I was already down the steps and out of sight.”

I wonder if this is the type of investigative journalism that the American Spectator’s nonprofit teaches to its new recruits. After all, without any reservations or even embarrassment, this senior level editor has admitted to meddling with a protest in order to sway the outcome to fit his pre-planned narrative. If he was allowed to publish this confession to their website without anybody stopping him, you really have to question the ethical and journalistic standards that are acceptable in the American Spectator’s newsroom.