Does a real video show a machete-wielding migrant yell, "This is the end of England!"? No, that's not true: This AI-generated video was made using a still frame from another video. Several glitches in the video point to it having been made with AI. This, coupled with both videos sharing the same thumbnail image, suggests one video was made using the other's thumbnail as a prompt. It is not an outtake or longer version of the first video -- it is a fabrication.
The fake video appeared in a post (archived here) published by the X account @HJB_News__ on July 1, 2026. It was captioned:
Illegal boat migrants brag "this is the end of England" just before landing on English shores from France.
This is the thumbnail image of the @HJB_News__ video:
(Image source: @HJB_News__ post on X.)
A video's thumbnail image is one still frame which serves as a preview of what the video may show. An article on TechSmith compares a video's thumbnail image to a book cover: "its job is to entice potential viewers to want to see more" (archived here).
A reverse image search with Google Lens for the thumbnail image (pictured above) pointed to a YouTube video titled, "EXCLUSIVE: Small boat migrants seen thrown passports into English Channel" published by GB News on June 30, 2026 (archived here). Although cropped differently, the thumbnail image of the GB News video (pictured below) shows the same moment -- notably the irregular outline of the life vest visible behind the man in the foreground is the same. This moment only appears briefly in the GB News video but it also appears at the opening of the @HJB_News__ video.
(Image source: @GBNewsOnline video on YouTube.)
How the videos differ
The GB News video is 16 seconds long and shows a small boat full of people -- about ten are visible. They seem to be sitting with their legs hanging over, and completely obscuring, the gunwale of the boat (pictured below left). The smiling man in the foreground appears to be filming himself and the people seated behind him with a phone camera in selfie mode. At one point the people in the background toss small black objects into the water, the caption says these are passports. There is a music beat soundtrack featuring what sounds like Arabic chanting, as well as another track of a deep slowed-down voice saying something indecipherable.
The scope of this fact check will not extend to verification of the "exclusive" footage posted by GB News.
The @HJB_News__ video is 6 seconds long. It begins with the thumbnail of the smiling man, but his face instantly turns angry. He shouts, "This is the end of England!" No other people are visible in the boat, and the gunwale is painted bright blue (pictured below right). He throws a few white papers into the water with both hands. He is holding a large machete in his right hand. He then waves the machete high and shouts, "Ho!" like a war cry.
(Image source: @GBNewsOnline video on YouTube and @HJB_News__ post on X.)
Is this an outtake?
Two different videos are unlikely to coincidentally share the same thumbnail image while depicting very different boat scenarios. Video thumbnails can be selected randomly or strategically chosen by uploaders for maximum impact. Thumbnails can even be custom-created with text and graphics that don't appear elsewhere in the video. In this case, it appears the GB News thumbnail was used as a prompt to generate an AI video from that still image.
AI-generated content detection tools, Hive Moderation, Google Gemini, and OpenAI did not find evidence that the video was AI-generated, but this does not mean the video is real. Glitches in the video typical of AI-generated content and logic point to this video having been made with AI.
The man's clothing and machete are not like the real thing
In the GB News video, the man in the foreground wears a dark pullover with a grey and white Aztec-style print under an orange life vest, with a second man behind him in a glossy black puffer jacket. In the GB News thumbnail (pictured below left), the puffer jacket's right arm is visible. However, the @HJB_News__ AI video renders this detail as shoulder pads on the left and right under the life vest of the foreground man (pictured below center and right). Additionally, the Aztec-print pullover becomes plain black, and the second man in the puffer jacket disappears entirely.
(Image source: @GBNewsOnline video on YouTube and @HJB_News__ post on X.)
The machete in the @HJB_News__ video shows inconsistent rendering. In some frames, the curved butt of the handle pushes into the palm instead of supporting behind the grip (pictured below). In other frames, it appears correctly positioned. According to the "Types of Machetes" guide at MacheteSpecialists.com (archived here), machete handles almost universally have supportive shaping on the same side as the blade, or none at all.
(Image source: @HJB_News__ post on X.)
Glitches of AI-generated content
At the beginning of the @HJB_News__ video, there is a nonsensical white object floating and rotating in the background. It does not appear to be attached to anything but is just a strange anomaly.
(Image source: @HJB_News__ post on X.)
The man is holding the machete in his right hand when he tosses the papers into the water with both hands. For a split second the machete vanishes before appearing again in his hand (below left). When the papers hit the water they make a large splash as if he had thrown a brick (below right).
(Image source: @HJB_News__ post on X.)
