Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
A video of a woman storming an event to mark the Texas Muslims Capitol Day, and grabbing the microphone to proclaim that Islam will never dominate the United States of America and Texas, is going viral on social media.
In the video a speaker inaugurating the Texas Muslim Capitol Day, which is a bi-annual event that brings together hundreds of Texas Muslims to the state’s capitol in Austin Texas, is seen being interrupted by a protester “proclaiming Jesus Christ over the capital of Texas” and saying that “Islam will never dominate the United States of America”. Newschecker found that the video is from 2015.
The video has been shared on Twitter by user @Sharabh_Vishnu_ which has garnered 598 likes and 252 retweets on the platform.
The video has also been shared by former Cabinet Minister and member of BJP, Subramaniam Swamy which has garnered 5,067 likes and 1,102 retweets.
Newschecker found similar claims with different captions on Twitter.
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Fact Check /Verification
We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search on the key-frames of the viral video and found a longer version of the video shared on Facebook by a page called ‘I am not insane , I am just A Limited Edition’ on 2nd March, 2015 along with the caption ‘Christine Weick interrupts Texas Muslim Capitol Day speaker in a way full of Anger , Hate and Intolerance – I wonder what Jesus would do if he was there.’
Upon conducting a keyword search on Google with the words “Texas Muslim Capitol Day” and “Christine Weick” we found a report on Youtube uploaded by the official channel of FOX 7 Austin on 7th February, 2015 along with the title Texas Muslim Capital Day Interrupted by Christine Weick. The report contained the video which is now viral on social media.
According to the report, Texas Muslims who had gathered at the Capitol on Thursday were met with obscenities from a few protestors and demands from one senator that they swear allegiance to the United States.
The report further stated that more than 200 individuals attended the event, which was organised by the Texas branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, to learn more about political participation and to speak with legislators about their concerns. “Children in the audience appeared to be distressed when about two dozen self-identified Christians protested nearby, yelling, “We don’t want you here!” and “Go home!” A protester once took control of a rallygoer’s microphone and called Muhammad a “false prophet” the report noted.
Upon further investigation, Newschecker found more news reports uploaded on 29th January, 2015 which reported the incident. According to the reports, Christine Weick, who said she was originally from Michigan at one point stormed the succession of speakers, grabbing the microphone and yelling, “Islam will not dominate the United States, and by the grace of God, it will not dominate Texas.”
The News reports can be seen here and here.
Conclusion
Newschecker’s investigation reveals that the viral video of woman interrupting the Texas Muslim Capitol Day is an older video from 2015.
Result: Missing Context
Our Sources
Youtube video by FOX 7 Austin
Chron report, Texas Muslim Capitol Day marred by anti-Islam protesters, (29th January, 2015)
The Dallas Morning News report, Texas Muslims on Capitol visit met by protests and hostility, (29th January, 2015)
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Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
