Nine years old picture of a couple kissing during protest falsely linked to George Floyd protests
Claims: A picture of a couple is making rounds on social media with a young couple lying on the road and kissing amidst the protest in going viral with a false claim of being from George Floyd protests in the US. The image shows several security personnel.
Protests for ‘Black Lives Matter’ were followed all over the US after George Floyd’s death by police outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Footage of the arrest on 25th May shows a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd’s neck while he was pinned to the floor.
Twitter user “Nationalist KR” tweeted the picture along with a sarcastic caption in Hindi, “अमेरिका में धरने-प्रदर्शन ऐसे होते हैं ..BC.😮😨😨.. #ALLLIVESMATER” which translates in English to, “This is how protests take place in America #ALLLIVESMATTER”.
The tweet can be seen here.
(Archived)
The same image was shared on Facebook with a caption in Swahili language which in English translates to, “Photo showing two lovers, fighting a kiss in the middle of protest in Minnesota, Minnesota in America #HiiNiYetuSote #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #GeorgeTyson #WasafiMedia”
(Archived)
TRUTH
However, this is an old image from 2011 and not linked to the current protests of 2020 happening in the US over black lives. This photograph was clicked in June 2011 when riots erupted in Canada’s Vancouver after the Stanley Cup final.
After doing a reverse search image, a post from New York Post dated from 17th June, 2011 was found with this image that said, “This amorous Vancouver couple got more action than their losing hockey team, and found romance in the midst of a post-Stanley cup riot. It’s not known what happened to the love birds, but almost 150 people were treated at hospitals after the Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins Thursday night.”
Identified as Scott Jones and Alexandra Thomas, they cleared the speculations back in 2011 about the photograph and in 2016’s article of The Guardian, Scott said that Alexandra was hysterical and he kissed her to calm her down.
Some other news reports about the same photograph and the couple are also available.
Hence, the photo was clicked in Canada, in 2011 not during the protests happening over Black Lives Matter following George Floyd’s death.
