Police Skit

Wanted for Defamation On November 5, 2021, a website named Conservative Beaver published a false story about the CEO of Pfizer being arrested for fraud. It wasn't the first false story published by the website and it wouldn't be the last: Only a few days later the site falsely claimed Myriam Bourla (the wife of Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla) died…

Does a widely shared video show a real instance of a woman in a wheelchair pretending to have lost her leg to collect money and then being confronted about her fakery? No, that's not true: The video shows several signs of being staged. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) from August 27, 2021. It featured a video…

Did a police officer help a homeless man who was trying to take a shower in a car wash? No, that's not true: This three-minute video drama was originally posted by Blake K, a video producer who makes short skits for social media. This video was originally posted with the disclaimer: "The events that take place in this particular short-film…

Did Palestinian militants or Hamas recently stage a fake funeral for propaganda purposes using a living person wrapped in a shroud? No, that's not true: The fake funeral depicted in this staged video was intended to be a humorous skit to demonstrate an inventive way to get around strict coronavirus curfews. Although the precise location of this video is not…

Did a nurse save a woman from an abusive boyfriend when the woman secretly passed her a message asking for help? No, that's not true: This scene, designed to look as if it was captured by a security camera, is a staged production using actors. The page that shared the video, "Jalals," is labeled as being from a comedian. The…

Did a woman receive news of her husband's death, as well as his last message to her, phrase by phrase, delivered by a detail of soldiers who tore pages off a large easel-size pad of paper? No, that's not true: These actors are role-playing in a staged scenario designed to engage the audience and keep them watching a video for…

Did a woman walking her dog bravely step out into the road to wake a person passed out asleep at the wheel of a moving car that was accurately circling a roundabout? No, that's not true: This is a "caught on camera" skit from Rick Lax Productions that was designed to look like it had been captured by a traffic…

Did a police officer catch his wife cheating during a traffic stop? No, that's not true. The video is a comedy sketch video and is published on a satire page. The "police officer" has played the same role in other joke videos on the site. It does not show a real law enforcement officer finding his wife cheating on him…

Does a photo of a man kissing a child show Chuck Schumer or a pedophile? No, that's not true: The man in the photo is the child's father, he is not Chuck Schumer and he is not a pedophile. This photograph was circulated online for more than a year with various defamatory captions and alleged locations before someone decided to…

Is George Floyd alive and was video of him dying under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer faked? No, that's not true: Two autopsies -- one by a medical examiner, and a second private examination -- confirmed that Floyd is dead. Video recorded from various sources and angles showed Floyd suffering injuries that led to his death. Claims to…