CNN did not claim the same man was killed in both Ukraine and Afghanistan

28 February 2022
What was claimed

CNN reported the death of the same man twice, in both Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Our verdict

This is not true. It is based on screenshots of fake CNN Twitter accounts. The photo used appears to be of a YouTuber, who is alive.

Two screenshots from fake CNN Twitter accounts are being shared on Facebook.

Both show the same photograph of a man they identify as “Bernie Gores”, with one post dated 16 August 2021 claiming he was a journalist killed in Afghanistan, and the other dated 23 February 2022 claiming he was an activist killed in Ukraine.

The same screenshots have also been shared on Twitter.

Some Facebook posts sharing these screenshots have suggested that CNN itself reported the death of the same man twice, which is not true.

CNN told Reuters that the posts and the claims within them are “absolute fiction”. Reuters also reports that the photo of the man in the screenshots appears to be of a YouTube gamer called Jordie Jordan, who was still streaming videos on 27 February 2022.

The posts have also been debunked by other fact checkers including Factcheck.org and Politifact.

Both Twitter accounts from which the screenshots came are now suspended.

Photo by DukeArcTerex at English Wikipedia

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