FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show A Walmart In Buffalo ‘Devastated By Ongoing Looting’?

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

A video shared on Facebook purports a Walmart in Buffalo, New York had allegedly been “devastated by ongoing looting” following a blizzard.

Verdict: False

The video shows a Philadelphia Walmart that was looted in 2020. A Walmart spokesperson denied any stores in Buffalo were looted during the blizzard.

Fact Check:

The death toll in the blizzard that hit Buffalo in December 2022 has increased to 44, according to WIVB. Three people were arrested in connection with a looting incident that occurred during the blizzard Dec. 25, WGRZ reported.

The Facebook video, shared over 700 times, purports a Buffalo, New York Walmart had recently been “devastated by ongoing looting.”

The claim is false. The original video shows a Walmart in Philadelphia that was looted in October 2020. The video’s caption indicates the Walmart was located in the Port Richmond area of the city and that the aftermath of the looting included a “flooded store, with broken glass and merchandise, shelves and displays everywhere.”

“I can confirm that no stores in the Buffalo, N.Y. area reported looting during the recent storms,” Walmart Media Relations spokesperson Robert Arrieta told Check Your Fact in an email.

While the video shared on Facebook did not show a Walmart impacted by looting in New York, the Buffalo Police Department indicated that looting did occur in the state as a result of “winter storm business break-ins” via Twitter. (RELATED: Is Walmart At Risk Of Closing Due To A Rise In Retail Thefts?)

“BREAKING: BPD Anti-Looting Detail announces 3 more arrests in connection with winter storm business break-ins bringing the total to 8 arrests,” the police department’s statement read in part.

Check Your Fact has also contacted a Buffalo Police Department spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

Trending