Does a video show young men dressed in black dancing with guns at student protests in France in October 2026? No, that's not true: They were filming a video for the French rap group 8ZT, which can be seen on the group's TikTok channel and on YouTube. There is no evidence that the people in the video were taking part in student protests.
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) by political commentator Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) on X on Oct. 7, 2026. The caption read:
These are the 'French Student protestors'.
Does it look like they're concerned with school conditions? Do any of them even look French?
Paris is in chaos right now because they imported a foreign culture that has now replaced their own.
This is what a screenshot of the video in the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @bennyjohnson on X.)
The video is embedded below:
These are the "French Student protestors". Does it look like they're concerned with school conditions? Do any of them even look French? Paris is in chaos right now because they imported a foreign culture that has now replaced their own. https://t.co/ssYpT9Qsoj
-- Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 7, 2026
The T-shirts worn in the video show the logo for 8ZT, a loosely-knit independent French rap group.
The shirts are clearly visible in another screenshot from the video in the post. This is what it looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @bennyjohnson on X.)
Lead Stories found the same scene in a video (archived here) on the 8ZT Officiel (@8zt.gvng) TikTok account, uploaded to the platform on Sept. 20, 2026. Translated from French, its caption read:
It's only a qst [question] of time. ⏳
#typ #clip #ptq #Bzt #fakegun @CONCEPT NORMANDIE @cash.studio
The video is embedded below:
@8zt.gvng Ce n'est qu'une qst de temps..⏳#fyp #clip #ptq #8zt #fakegun @CONCEPT NORMANDIE @cash.studio ♬ Everything Lit - Sheff G
Some of the same scenes with 8ZT, but at different camera angles, can be found in a video (archived here) by the Concept Normandie and cash studio account on YouTube on Sept. 30, 2026. The title of the video read:
S.U.H - ÉPISODE 1 (8ZT, 2SB, LATR2IIX, M2H)
PROJET S.U.H is a music and video project through which Concept Normandie promotes French artists.
The video is embedded below. The section featuring 8ZT begins about 28 seconds in and runs for about 30 seconds total before switching to another group:
