Videos have circulated online showing Irish police running towards protesters and using batons. Although the video is authentic, some of the clips were shortened to remove the incident before the police charge.
The news from the Irish Times, Sky News and BBC was among newspapers reporting that protesters had gathered in Dublin by the closing on 27 February, some of which attacked the police with fireworks, cans and boulders (here, here and here).
A statement (here) on the website of the Irish National Police Force, An Garda Síochána, posted the same day, said: ‘After persistent and orchestrated non-compliance with public health regulations and compliance with directions of An Garda Síochána, the gathering at times became violent with members of An Garda Síochána being targeted with fireworks, missiles and spit.
‘Gardaí had to intervene. 23 people were arrested under the Public Order Act. 3 Garda staff were injured during the incident. One needed hospital treatment for his injuries. ”
Videos posted on social media on Feb. 27 show a pyrotechnic device apparently aimed at Grafton Street police, who responded by charging the crowdhere and here).
However, edited versions of the video do not show the pyrotechnic device (here and here) and was posted with captions such as: “It starts with a protest against the closure in Dublin. At the moment there are no details, but the Gardaí looks very heavy! ‘(here) and’ Gardai disperses protesters against Dublin in Dublin ‘(here).
One Instagram account acknowledged that the video had been processed and shared the full clip in a separate post, writing: ‘The REASON the guards attacked the protesters. Quite enough response. Someone sneakily modified to make the guards in our previous post look bad. ”(Here)
VERDICT
Missing context. Videos showing police with batons running against protesters in Dublin have been edited or shared without the context that a device like a firework had been fired at officers moments before.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check Team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.