FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show A Looted Walmart In Fairfield, California?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A video shared on Facebook claims to show a looted Walmart in Fairfield, California.

Verdict: False

The video was not taken in Fairfield, according to the police department. The video was likely taken in Philadelphia in October 2020.

Fact Check:

The video claims to show a looted Walmart in Fairfield. The video’s caption reads, “Fairfield, California Walmart. Guess who? #DemocratsAreDestroyingAmerica.” The video was widely shared on Twitter before it was deleted.

However, there is no evidence that this video was taken in Fairfield. If a Walmart was recently looted in Fairfield, California, media outlets would have covered it, yet none have. Neither the Fairfield Police Department nor the Fairfield Walmart has posted on Facebook about looting at the store.

The Fairfield Police Department denied the claim on Twitter, stating that it was “absolutely untrue.”

“This account is not a reputable source of information. This is absolutely untrue. There has been no such incident in Fairfield, California,” the Fairfield Police Department stated. It also denied the claim on Facebook. (RELATED: Did Hillary Clinton Endorse Ron DeSantis For President?)

Mayor Catherine Moy also debunked the claim on Twitter (Moy verified to Check Your Fact that the Twitter account was hers). She told Check Your Fact in an email that the city “had no incidents of mass looting at that Walmart and no calls for any kind of police service in the past week, city staff told me.”

“I understand that video was actually from a tornado in the South. The last time we had mass looting was in 2020 after George Floyd was killed. That Walmart did suffer some damage. But nothing major since then,” Moy said.

Check Your Fact could not independently confirm where the video was taken. Some individuals pointed to an October 2020 YouTube video showing a looted Walmart in Philadelphia posted by independent videographer Brendan Gutenschwager, but Gutenschwager said it “doesn’t appear to to be from the same store.”

“I don’t recognize the video from that tweet so I don’t know precisely where that is from, though based on the store layout there compared to the one in my video from Philadelphia, it doesn’t appear to be the same store,” Gutenschwager told Check Your Fact in a Twitter direct message.

Social media users often use old clips to misrepresent recent events. Check Your Fact recently debunked a video claiming to show migrants protesting in Calais, France.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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