Does a video on TikTok show "Bikers on the way to California to back ICE agents" in June of 2025? No, that's not true: The video was first posted to TikTok in November 2022 -- almost three years before protesters in Los Angeles took to the streets to block aggressive ICE immigration raids. The video's original poster was documenting bikers…
Does a social media post include an authentic photo of former New Mexico Magistrate Judge Joel Cano standing pantsless in flip-flops with Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, the Venezuelan man he is accused of hiding from U.S. immigration officials? No, that's not true: The original image, in which Cano is fully clothed, was included with documents filed March 28, 2025, in federal court…
Was a man named Jerce Reyes Barrios, described as a soccer player from Venezuela on social media, deported from the U.S. to El Salvador? The story was reported by ABC News, citing the man's attorney. Filings in U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. spell out Barrios' account. Here is what we know so far. The story appeared in a post…
Does a video capture Venezuelan immigrants surging through a supermarket in Aurora, Colorado? No, that's not true: The earliest version of the video on TikTok was geotagged to a city in Brazil, not in Colorado or the United States at all. Nothing in the footage proved that it was filmed in Aurora. Instead, all indicators, including the crowd's use of…
Did police in Aurora, Colorado, issue a shelter-in-place order for the city on September 4, 2024, in response to Venezuelan gang violence? No, that's not true: Police told Lead Stories that the shelter-in-place order was due to a SWAT operation to arrest a man wanted on a felony menacing warrant. Residents were asked to stay inside for their safety while…
Did 32 armed Venezuelans with motorcycles trespass and take over a Chicago apartment complex on September 2, 2024? No, that's not true: The only evidence cited online for the claim is a recording of a Chicago police dispatcher relaying what was told to her by a caller, the kind of report that can be made without corroboration or evidence by…
Does a video show Mongols and Hells Angels members heading to Colorado in 2024 to "deal with" Venezuelan gang members? No, that's not true: The original video is at least 14 years old. The video was previously used in 2020 to claim Hells Angels and Mongols members were heading to Seattle to confront antifa followers, and was fact checked by…
Does a video on Instagram Threads show Hells Angels and other motorcycle clubs going to Aurora, Colorado, to fight a Venezuelan gang after violence was reported in August 2024? No, that's not true: The video was first posted to TikTok in November 2022 -- nearly two years before media reported gang violence in Aurora. The video's original poster clarified on…
Does a video on Instagram show Hells Angels going to Aurora, Colorado, to fight members of a Venezuelan gang after gang-related violence was reported in August 2024? No, that's not true: The video was first posted to TikTok on July 7, 2024, more than a month before local media reported gang violence in Aurora. Elements in the video and on…
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