FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show Women Being Arrested On Their Way Back From The Capitol Riot?

Trevor Schakohl | Legal Reporter

A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows two rioters being arrested in an airport when they returned home after the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Verdict: False

The video actually shows two arrests that occurred in November 2020.

Fact Check:

Following the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, social media users have been sharing a TikTok video along with the claim that the footage shows two female rioters being arrested at an airport after returning from Washington, D.C. In the video, one of the women shouts as law enforcement officers lead her out of the building.

The video actually predates the Capitol riot by nearly two months. The TikTok user @yungxleen, who originally posted the video on Jan. 9, later shared footage from the same incident with text that said it was “taken in November” and “has nothing to do with the captiol (sic),” adding that “people around us were saying that they didnt (sic) wear masks and assaulted a flight attendant.” In another video TikTok video, the user @yungxlean identified the location of the incident as a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, airport.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that arrest records from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for the two women showed the incident in the video occurred at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last year. Veda Coleman-Wright, the director of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office’s public information office, confirmed to Check Your Fact via email that, as the Tampa Bay Times reported, the arrests of the two women occurred on Nov. 12 last year at that airport.

One woman was charged with battery for allegedly “touching or striking” the victim “against her will” and resisting or obstructing a police officer without violence, Broward County court documents show. The other woman was charged with allegedly resisting or obstructing a police officer without violence, according to Broward County court documents. Both have pleaded not guilty. (RELATED: Does This Video Show A Capitol Rioter Finding Out He’s On The Federal No-Fly List?)

Check Your Fact previously debunked the claim that another TikTok video showed a man reacting to getting placed on the federal no-fly list for being recognized at the Capitol riot. Derek Walls, a spokesperson for American Airlines, told Check Your Fact that the man was asked to deplane a Jan. 8 flight for “refusing to comply” with the airline’s mandatory face mask policy.

Over 100 people have been arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday, according to Politico. FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono said on Jan. 12 that the agency was looking into adding Capitol rioters to the federal no-fly list, CNN reported.

Trevor Schakohl

Legal Reporter
Follow Trevor on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/tschakohl

Trending