Video was posted before U.S. airstrike on Iran
President Donald Trump on June 22 ordered an airstrike on Iran, which included a strike on the country’s Fordow nuclear plant.
Within the same day, a post showed up on X claiming to be video of the bombing.
“Fordow is gone,” read the caption on an eight-second clip showing a fiery explosion.
But this video is miscaptioned, according to Reuters. It was around before the U.S. bombed Iran. The video has been on the Internet since Dec. 15, 2024, when it was posted by various media outlets showing an explosion near the Syrian city of Tortous.
Another video posted by Syrian media shows the same explosion, “as evidenced by the matching streaks of smoke,” Reuters said. A person off camera in that video can be heard condemning Israel in Arabic.
A report on Dec. 16, 2024, from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that Israel had attacked a weapons depot in the Tartous countryside, leaving at least 36 people injured.
Pride flag didn’t replace American flag
June is Pride Month, and as on any special day or event, there’s always plenty of fake news and misinformation.
“The Mets showed a pride flag instead of the American flag during our National Anthem. Boycott the MLB,” wrote one X user who included a five-second video of the Pride flag.
But that post is taken out of context, according to PolitiFact.
"The Mets did not replace the American flag at all — it was in the same spot it’s in for all 81 home games at CitiField," LGBT Network President David Kilmnick told PolitiFact. “I know myself and others who were with me turned to the flag while the anthem was sung.”
Kilmnick’s nonprofit organization attended the June 13 New York Mets Pride Night game.
A longer version of the National Anthem from that game shows the American Flag displayed on the jumbotron through most of the song. When the Pride flag briefly appeared on the jumbotron, the American flag remained displayed on smaller screens around the stadium.
Walz had no posts to delete
Some social media posts appear to be trying to tie Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the shooter accused in the June 14 killing of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. The suspect is also accused in a separate attack that injured state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
In December 2019, Walz reappointed the person as a representative on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, an advisory group made up of nearly 60 business members. He was originally appointed by the previous governor. A governor’s office spokesperson said lawmakers appoint thousands of people to similar unpaid positions on boards and committees.
However, recent social media posts imply Walz is trying to hide something.
A June 16 X post read, in part, “BREAKING: Governor Tim Walz has DELETED every post he made praising (the) Minnesota a*sassin.”
But this is false, according to PolitiFact. Walz didn’t have any such posts to delete.
A Walz spokesperson told PolitiFact that Walz has not posted anything about the suspect on any of his social media platforms and therefore hasn’t deleted any posts about him.
A check on sites that archive politicians’ deleted posts couldn’t find any on accounts for Walz that mentioned the suspect, PolitiFact said.
Not fact checking dad
Boston Red Sox rookie pitcher Hunter Dobbins recently told reporters about his negative feelings toward the New York Yankees.
According to USA Today, Dobbins talked about how his father, Lance Dobbins, was drafted twice by the Yankees and then was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But the New York Post checked the facts and reported that there was no evidence that the senior Dobbins played for the Yankees. He doesn’t appear on any lists of draft picks and longtime GM Brian Cashman didn’t remember him.
Players from the Diamondbacks also didn’t recall playing with him.
“Baseball Reference” only lists 1996-97 stats for Lance Dobbins, from playing independent ball.
But Hunter Dobbins, who recently beat the Yankees in two straight starts, doesn’t seem bothered by the Post report.
“The whole backstory is stuff I heard growing up and seen pictures of from my dad,” Hunter Dobbins told reporters. “At the end of my day, it's just from my dad and how I kind of grew my love for the game. But at the end of the day I don't go and fact-check my dad or anything like that.”
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.