Fake News: Swedish Child NOT Beaten By Muslim Immigrant For Having Blue Eyes

Fact Check

  • by: Lead Stories Staff
Fake News: Swedish Child NOT Beaten By Muslim Immigrant For Having Blue Eyes

Did a Swedish child get beaten by a Muslim immigrant for having blue eyes? No, that's not true: the photo is actually of a four-year-old girl from Cardiff, Wales who was attacked by a rottweiler. It was not a 12-year-old Swedish boy from Helsingborg attacked by a 15-year-old Muslim immigrant.

The claim originated from an article published by Daily Political News on December 27, 2019, titled "Swedish child beaten by Muslim immigrant for having blue eyes" (archived here) which opened:

Unbelievable: The 12-year-old boy in the Swedish city of Helsingborg was instructed of Arab immigrants so because he has blue eyes:

A 12-year-old boy in the Swedish city of Helsingborg is beaten up by an Arab immigrant because he has blue eyes.

A 15-year-old [Muslim] boy in Helsingborg has been sentenced for assault and threatening another boy because of his blue eyes.

The 15-year-old [Muslim] immigrant had asked the Swedish boy what color eyes he had, according to the District Court. The boy replied "blue green". The 15-year-old [Arabs] took this as a provocation for unknown reasons.

Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:

Swedish child beaten by muslim immigrant for having blue eyes

Loading... Unbelievable: The 12-year-old boy in the Swedish city of Helsingborg was instructed of Arab immigrants so because he has blue eyes: A 12-year-old boy in the Swedish city of Helsingborg is beaten up by an Arab immigrant because he has blue eyes. A 15-year-old [Muslim] boy in Helsingborg has been sentenced for assault and ...

The image actually shows four-year-old Sophie Willis, who was bitten by her father's new dog and had to have 20 stitches to repair the damage to her face. The photo was published in 2008 by the BBC, along with an article detailing the dog bite.

The image was first falsely used starting in 2013, after it was posted by sites such as Jew News. The story was previously debunked, including on December 2, 2016.

According to Swedish newspaper Fria Tider, which is widely considered to be anti-immigrant, there was, in fact, a boy beaten over his eye color by a 15-year-old, who was later convicted of assault. But there is no evidence that that the assailant was a Muslim or an immigrant; the only detail suggesting this in the Fria Tider article is that the 15-year-old buy's primary language was Arabic. Fria Tider also reported that the boy denies the crime.

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