Social media videos falsely claim to show Venezuelans celebrating the capture of Maduro
A U.S. military operation early this year resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and his wife Cilia Flores. Maduro pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges in a federal court on Jan. 5.
Following the capture, videos “continued to multiply on social media” supposedly showing people celebrating in Venezuela, according to The Associated Press. But these clips are mislabeled and many had appeared on the internet prior to the operation.
President Donald Trump shared a video on his Truth Social platform, showing a crowd cheering, with the caption, “Venezuela celebrates, Democrats cry.”
But this video wasn’t about Venezuela or the Democrats, the AP said. It’s footage from an event at the University of California, Los Angeles, called the “Undie Run,” a tradition in which UCLA students run in their underwear during finals week.
This video was originally posted Dec. 11 to TikTok. It shows the students at the intersection of Strathmore Place and Charles E. Young Drive West, where the run began. UCLA landmarks, such as the Wasserman Football Center and the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center, can be seen in the clip.
A different video, which also claims to show people cheering in Venezuela, is shot from high above an event, showing a large crowd gathered and making noise.
This one is from Venezuela, the AP said, but it’s a clip posted to Instagram on July 30, 2024. It actually shows a huge demonstration in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, as people were protesting the disputed election of Madura. Vehicles traveling through the crowd are carrying Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González.
Trump also shared this video on Truth Social with the caption, “INCREDIBLE! Millions of Venezuelans are celebrating the news of the collapse of the Maduro regime.”
Posts misidentified Brown University shooter
A gunman killed two people and injured nine others last month at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Five days after the Dec. 13 fatal shooting, police identified a former Brown student, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, as the gunman. Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national, was found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility. He had attended the university from 2000-01.
But before the shooter was named, social media users baselessly accused a current Brown student for the killings, according to PolitiFact.
Mustapha Kharbouch, a Palestinian man at Brown, was named in an X post, which included his name and photo, shown alongside a police-issued photo of the suspect. Other posts also shared Kharbouch’s name as the shooter.
Kharbouch, in a statement, said he was the subject of death threats and went through “an unimaginable nightmare.”
Lawyers with the advocacy groups the Clear Project and Muslim Advocates issued a statement that said Kharbouch was the target of a “disturbing, racist and hateful campaign.”
Decorations removed for safety
A resident in London, England, was asked to remove his Christmas decorations near the door of a state-owned block of flats.
A ring-camera video in a Dec. 15 Facebook post shows a police officer taking photos of the setup, which included an inflatable arch, an inflatable snowman and Santa.
“So seriously Harrow Council are going too fine me for having Christmas decorations out side my front door in a block,” the post read. “Is it that bad now days that we can't celebrate our festive season fuming.”
One user shared the video, claiming the resident was “being investigated for having Christmas decorations outside the door.”
Others said the request was for religious reasons, claiming it’s “the end of Christmas in the UK” and Britain's Labour government was putting the religious beliefs of “foreign invaders” over Christian ones.
But those claims are not accurate, according to Reuters. The resident was asked to remove the decorations for safety reasons. Masooma Sarwar, deputy head of communications in the north London council, told Reuters that the decorations posed a fire risk because they blocked the exit route.
“Electrical items such as Christmas decorations can burn quickly if they catch fire — our priority is people’s safety,” Sarwar said.
The resident later posted a photo of a letter he received asking him to remove the decorations and explaining the safety hazard.
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.