When Nigel Farage posted a video of a man being arrested at a protest in London yesterday, he didn’t quite have his facts right. The divisive right-wing politician claimed that the suspect was apprehended simply ‘for carrying a Union Jack flag’. This, however, was not the case.
Nigel Farage fact-checked: More tall tales from Brexit’s main man…
Whipping up a frenzy amongst his 1.8 million followers on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), Mr. Farage asked how the UK had ‘sunk to this’, bemoaning the protests in support of Palestine amid the ongoing conflict with Israel.
More than two million people have viewed the video, with many not seeing the full context behind it. A ‘Community Note’ has since been added to the post. This tool allows users to correct any misinformation they may encounter, tackling false claims in real-time.
As you can see, the note attached to Nigel Farage’s post was comically blunt:
Contrary to Nigel Farage’s claims, no-one was arrested for carrying a Union Jack
The Met Police have since commented on the viral clip, comprehensively rejecting claims that the man was arrested for carrying a Union Jack. Though the force is limited to what it can reveal at this point, it would appear that the former UKIP leader has been telling porkies:
“A clip is circulating on social media of a man arrested in Whitehall this afternoon. Whilst we cannot comment further as it’s being investigated, we can state that he was not arrested for anything in connection to carrying the Union Flag.” | Met Police
Several arrests, but protests ‘largely peaceful’
The demonstrations against the Israel-Palestine conflict in London this weekend ‘went without issue’, as per the Met Police’s official summary. They note that thousands were ‘able to express themselves freely’ when taking to the streets.
However, there were seven arrests linked to the protests. In the evening after the official event, a further eight people were detained by the police, for offences ranging from illegally setting off fireworks, to assaults on emergency workers.