What was claimed
A video shows immigrant and nationalist groups recently fighting on the streets of London.
Our verdict
The video was taken in 2023.
What was claimed
A video shows immigrant and nationalist groups recently fighting on the streets of London.
Our verdict
The video was taken in 2023.
Several different accounts across social media have shared a video of a street fight in London.
Accompanying captions say: “Clashes between British patriots and Islamic immigrants in London. The UK is about to implode”.
While some posts describe this as “breaking” news or otherwise imply the footage is recent, it isn’t. It was taken by BBC journalist Vinnie O’Dowd in Trafalgar Square on 11 November 2023, the day a large-scale pro-Palestinian march took place in London, with counter-protesters also present.
Google street view imagery of the area also confirms that the video was filmed in Trafalgar Square.
The events that day were covered live by the BBC and include other reports from Mr O’Dowd and his colleagues, several of which showed clashes between rival groups during the march.
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Mr O’Dowd shared his account of the events leading up to the video with Full Fact, explaining that he had followed what seemed to be a group of counter-protestors to Trafalgar Square. He told us he filmed the video himself and posted it online shortly after.
We haven’t been able to confirm the identities or affiliations of either group of people involved in the fight.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because the footage is from 2023 and was reportedly filmed after a pro-Palestine march.
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Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.