Editor’s Note: An apology

Two articles published by The Post online and in its print editions earlier this month contained substantial material that was borrowed and duplicated, without attribution, from The Arizona Republic newspaper.

The articles described an indictment of Jared Lee Loughner for murder and attempted murder in the January rampage that wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the subsequent unsealing of court records supporting a search warrant in connection with the case.

In the article about the indictment, which appeared on The Post’s website on March 4 and on page A3 of the print edition of March 5, two paragraphs about a provision in federal civil rights law that applies to hate crimes were copied from the Republic’s work. The article also included without attribution other facts previously reported by the Republic.

The article detailing what investigators found in their search of Loughner’s home, which appeared online on March 10 and was published on page A3 in the newspaper of March 11, was substantially drawn from an article that appeared in The Republic. Ten of the article’s 15 paragraphs were copied in whole or in part from an article that first appeared in the Republic.

It is The Post’s policy that the use of material from other newspapers or sources must be properly attributed. The Post apologizes to the Arizona Republic and to its readers for this serious lapse.