Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
A disturbing video showing a security guard pinning down a minor boy is going viral on social media platforms. In the footage, the guard can be seen atop the minor, forcing him down while the boy is trying to resist. Several social media users shared the video claiming to show an Israeli policeman strangling “a Palestinian child to death during the US Embassy protest in Jerusalem.” Newschecker found the claim to be untrue. The video shows a 2015 incident in Sweden.
Note: The video contains disturbing visuals and has not been embedded by Newschecker in this article.
The video is being widely shared on Twitter with the caption, “An Israeli policeman strangles a Palestinian child to death on Saturday during the US Embassy protest in Jerusalem. The innocent boy even read Kalima e shahadat before he died.”
Archived versions of such tweets can be seen here, here, here and here.
It is also going viral on Facebook.
Links to such Facebook posts can be found here, here, here and here.
Newschecker received the video on our WhatsApp tipline ( +91-9999499044) requesting to be fact checked.
Also Read: Muslim Migrants Protesting In Sweden? No, Video Viral With Misleading Claim
Fact Check/Verification
A Yandex reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral footage led us to a YouTube video by My Chen, dated February 16, 2015, titled ‘Subway security guard wrestles and chokes 9 year old child for riding without ticket.’
The description of the video read, “Two boys aged 9 and 12 were stopped by security guards/ticket controllants in Mamlo Central station. A witness reported that the boys didn’t seem to understand Swedish and were unable to communicate with the controllants.The Swedish police has decided that they will not prosecute the security controllant, despite his harsh treatment against the child, which included both choking the boy by covering the boy’s mouth and nose and bashing the boy against the floor. (sic)”
On comparing the viral clip with video uploaded on YouTube, we could conclude that they showed the same incident.
Taking a clue, we conducted a keyword search for “Sweden,” “minor boy assaulted,” “Malmo railway station” & “February 2015” on Google yielded a report by Independent, dated February 12, 2015, titled ‘Police investigate Swedish train station security guards for ‘assaulting’ young boy.’
Displaying a screengrab from the viral video, the report stated, “A pair of train station security guards are being investigated by Swedish police, after disturbing footage emerged appearing to show one assaulting a nine-year-old boy.The video appears to show a guard sitting on top of a nine-year-old boy in the station in the city of Malmo. As the child struggles, the guard is seen clasping his hands over the boy’s mouth, and pushing his face into the ground.” It added that the guard had detained the two boys after they travelled without a ticket and were made to leave a train.
We also came across a report by Sweden’s Sveriges Radio and France 24, from February 2015, that recounted the same details. Reportedly, the duo, who were taken to a safe home after the incident, escaped the care home again and were later found in Denmark.
Old Claim Revived
This is not the first time that the video showing a security guard assaulting a minor has gone viral. We found posts from 2017 making the same false claim, alleging it to show an “Israeli policeman” strangling a “Palestinian Child to death during the protest of the US embassy move to Jerusalem.” Such posts can be seen here and here.
Conclusion
Viral post being shared to show an “Israeli policeman strangling Palestinian child to death” is false. The video shows an incident that took place in Sweden’s Malmo central station in 2015.
Result: False
Sources
YouTube Video By My Chen, Dated February 16, 2015
Report By Independent, Dated February 12, 2015
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
