Fact Check: Old image from Spain goes viral as corona protests against Trump in US
With protests raging across the United States over the death of African-American George Floyd in police custody, a picture of thousands of people marching with flags and banners is viral on social media. The post claims that US streets are overflowing with protesters against President Donald Trump’s plan to ruin Americans using coronavirus as a weapon.
Facebook user Riyaz Khan Khan shared the image along with a post in Hindi which translates to, “Americans are descending on the streets. Trump wanted to ruin Americans using coronavirus as a weapon, but he was trapped in his own game. His Indian friend too is betraying his own people, all the while addressing them as brothers and sisters. If you stay with bad people, you will do bad things. Indians too are boiling with rage and ready to take to the streets. Change the government of the dishonest.”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim along with the image to be misleading. The viral picture has nothing to do with US, Trump or coronavirus. It is a three-year-old picture from Spain.
The June 1 post by “Riyaz Khan Khan” has been shared more than 1,200 times till the filing of this story. The archived version can be seen here. The post is viral on Facebook and Twitter.
AFWA investigation
Using reverse image search, we found the un-cropped version of the viral photo in an article by The Atlantic.
As per the report, the picture was taken on February 18, 2017, when thousands of people marched in Barcelona to urge the Spanish government to take in refugees who have fled the war in Syria and other conflict zones. The report says Spain had taken in just 1,100 refugees of the more than 17,000 it had pledged to accept.
The same picture was also used by The Guardian in February 2017 with the same information.
Though it is true that the US is on the boil, but the viral picture is unrelated and from Spain. Protests, often violent, have broken out across US cities following the death of African-American George Floyd whose arrest by a white police officer turned fatal. The police officer was filmed putting his knee on Floyd’s neck even as he repeated that he could not breathe.
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ClaimUS President Donald Trump wanted to ruin Americans using coronavirus as a weapon. Thousands of people are protesting on the streets against that.ConclusionThe picture is more than three years old and from Spain.
JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE
The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.
- 1 Crow: Half True
- 2 Crows: Mostly lies
- 3 Crows: Absolutely false
