Photos on the site Legit Funds show a man fighting uniformed officers. They’re headlined: “Nigeria Man Beats two police officer to death in London for trying to Deport him.”
The article, dated 23 May 2020, claims that an “African immigrant resisting deportation from the UK” knocked out a London police officer “with one punch”. “One of the police officer was rushed to the hospital and one has been confirmed dead.”
The article was shared on Facebook in Nigeria. But what do the photos really show?
A reverse image search reveals that the photos are almost six years old. They appear in an 7 October 2014 article on the Senegalese website Senego, along with others of the same incident.
Senego does not suggest that the man is Nigerian, and says the photos were taken in Italy. Evidence in the photos supports this.
The logo of Italian bank Fineco can be seen in the background of one photo. And the officers’ uniforms match those in publicly available photos of Italian police officers, such as the one in this article about policing along the Swiss-Italian border.
The photos weren’t taken in the UK. Are the other claims in the Legit Funds article true?
Even Senego says the man “massacred two Italian police officers” (“massacre deux policiers italiens”). But this does not appear to be the case.
According to a 6 October 2014 article on the Italian website Milano Today, the incident took place at the Linate Airport in Milan. And the man was Senegalese, not Nigerian.
The article doesn’t say that the man was an illegal immigrant, or was being arrested for deportation. He only “resisted a check” (“resistenza a un controllo”). And although one officer “reported several bruises” (“riportato diverse contusioni”), none were killed in the incident. – Keegan Leech
The article, dated 23 May 2020, claims that an “African immigrant resisting deportation from the UK” knocked out a London police officer “with one punch”. “One of the police officer was rushed to the hospital and one has been confirmed dead.”
The article was shared on Facebook in Nigeria. But what do the photos really show?
That’s not the UK
A reverse image search reveals that the photos are almost six years old. They appear in an 7 October 2014 article on the Senegalese website Senego, along with others of the same incident.
Senego does not suggest that the man is Nigerian, and says the photos were taken in Italy. Evidence in the photos supports this.
The logo of Italian bank Fineco can be seen in the background of one photo. And the officers’ uniforms match those in publicly available photos of Italian police officers, such as the one in this article about policing along the Swiss-Italian border.
Was anyone killed?
The photos weren’t taken in the UK. Are the other claims in the Legit Funds article true?
Even Senego says the man “massacred two Italian police officers” (“massacre deux policiers italiens”). But this does not appear to be the case.
According to a 6 October 2014 article on the Italian website Milano Today, the incident took place at the Linate Airport in Milan. And the man was Senegalese, not Nigerian.
The article doesn’t say that the man was an illegal immigrant, or was being arrested for deportation. He only “resisted a check” (“resistenza a un controllo”). And although one officer “reported several bruises” (“riportato diverse contusioni”), none were killed in the incident. – Keegan Leech
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