A man pictured at a London rally wearing a banner that reads “Kill Cops” is not a secret police officer. The Metropolitan Police told Reuters that such claims on social media were untrue – and the man also identified himself in a blog post to dispel rumors.
The images appeared on Facebook after protesters rallied across Britain on April 3 against a proposed law to give police extra powers to quell protests (here).
The same day, the Metropolitan Police Federation – a staff association (metfed.org.uk/) – tweeted back photos of a man holding a banner with the caption “Kill Cops” before commenting: “This banner is just a few meters from where our colleague PC Keith Palmer was killed to protect democracy. That’s all you need to know about these people. ”(here). Palmer was killed during an attack in 2017 (here) during an attack in the House of Parliament.
As the photos began to attract more attention online, social media users searched for other content that showed the same man at different times of the protest. In such a video it appears that the “Kill Cops” banner consists of two pieces of material, which was also arranged to say “Cops Kill” (here).
However, several users found content showing the man standing near the police, which led to allegations that he was working as a secret officer. In a Facebook video with almost 1,000 likes, the man was seen “under police protection” with accompanying text asking: “Undercover cop at yesterday’s protest? … Why would the police protect someone who held a banner and said did they have to be killed just a short time earlier? He will surely bow down[sic]like the rest of the protesters were? But he was pretty safe. ”(Here).
In another report, which was shared almost 100 times, it is written: ‘The same man was then clearly * taken * and filmed with the police several times. It can no longer be performed blatantly ”(here); while a further 100 Facebook users shared a status claiming the man was photographed and ‘standing here behind police lines at other points’ (here). Comments left below the message indicate that users believe the man is an officer.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that the man works as a police officer undercover. He has identified himself in public and is an American journalist. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police also told Reuters that the online claims were untrue.
“The police are aware of footage and images on which a man was holding a banner on Saturday, April 3, during protests in London. Inquiries are underway to identify the man, “the force added.
On April 4, journalist Barrett Brown writes a blog post in which he identifies himself as the subject of the photos. He denied being linked to the Metropolitan Police. (here).
“I think I should make a statement that neither I nor the other protesters who can be seen with me are police working for the Metropolitan Police,” he said. ‘I was never really’ behind ‘any’ policeman ‘; we surrounded the police at various points, which is one of the reasons why someone can clearly see other protesters with me, even in the still image that people seem to convince. ”
Brown, known for his once close ties with hacker group Anonymous and serving five years in federal prison for transmitting threats, aiding hackers and obstructing authorities, said police involvement was a ‘strange’ theory ‘as:’ I do not like the police. “(Here, here, here) He did not respond to a request for further comment from Reuters.
VERDICT
Untrue. There is no evidence that the man who saw the flag “Kill Cops” was a secret officer. The man was identified as US journalist Barrett Brown and Metropolitan Police told Reuters the allegations online were false.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.