Police Skit

Did a widely-shared video show real police officers handcuffing a Black man in a restaurant who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent? No, that's not true: The people in the video were simply acting out a scripted scenario. The page that posted the sketch routinely publishes similar scripted scenarios, and is affiliated with Network Media, a company that…

Do viral videos authentically show the British porn actress known as Bonnie Blue being arrested? No, that's not true: The police vehicle is painted to look like police cars in Britain, but licensed to a prop service that provides cars to film and video makers. If the actress, born Tia Emma Billinger, had been arrested, England's notoriously competitive press corps…

Does an authentic photo of Shiloh Hendrix show her holding a handwritten card that reads: "$250K You Niggers"? No, that's not true: The photo, of the Minnesota woman who was videotaped shouting the n-word at a child, is predated by a version of the same photo in which the card she holds reads: "@AngloSaxonGirl". An AI detection tool found there…

Does a police body cam video show an authentic incident in which an officer is demanding that a Black man in a business suit hand over his identification while shopping in a boutique store? No, that's not true: The video first appeared on a Facebook page that features actors in skits depicting confrontations between citizens and police. The same actors…

Did the owner of an eatery prevent a woman from entering the business because her "Trump 2024" shirt was "a little issue for our facility"? No, that's not true: The owner of the TikTok account that first posted the video that depicted this supposed encounter told Lead Stories that "it was a fake video!" and "a silly TikTok." The account…

Did a photo of the attempted assassin of Donald Trump surface, showing that Thomas Matthew Crooks was transgender? No, that's not true: The person in the photo on social media is not Crooks. The photo appeared first on 4chan, posted by an anonymous user who replied to someone's questioning its truth that "spreading rumors is fun." A close-up photo of…

Did Secret Service personnel grin widely, showing their teeth, while escorting former President Trump to safety after the assassination attempt at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: A tool created to detect ai-generated images found substantial evidence the image had been remade with generative ai systems.…

Does a video posted on social media show a genuine British police officer questioning a driver, who is waiting for a friend at a train station, to exclude him as a suspect in a crime "that may or may not be currently in progress"? No, that's not true: This is a skit staged for social media. The man playing the…

Did a doctor take over eight minutes to gingerly remove a "parasite" from a woman's scalp? No, that's not true: This video is the creation of sword swallower and content creator Juliette Electrique, who works with Las Vegas entertainment promoter and viral social media content entrepreneur Rick Lax Productions. Electrique's Facebook page is marked as Satire/Parody. In the past the…

Did several Drug Enforcement Administration agents accept the assistance of two men they pulled over who were in a purportedly stolen vehicle to then go into the woods and bust an active drug-cooking operation? No, that's not true: This video depicts a fictional scenario, one of a series made by video creator PhilTheThrill. The video was published on Facebook by…