{"id":592561,"date":"2021-07-15T17:20:14","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T21:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=592561"},"modified":"2021-07-15T17:20:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T21:20:15","slug":"fact-check-does-this-video-show-a-water-cannon-being-used-on-protesters-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-does-this-video-show-a-water-cannon-being-used-on-protesters-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show A Water Cannon Being Used On Protesters In South Africa?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-does-this-video-show-a-water-cannon-being-used-on-protesters-in-south-africa%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=592561&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Venezuela-scaled-e1626365940594.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A video <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/desmond.downs\/videos\/169735215084107\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Facebook<\/a> allegedly shows South African protesters being hit with a water cannon.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The video, which dates back to 2017, shows Venezuelan protesters being hit with a water cannon.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/desmond.downs\/videos\/169735215084107\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">18-second video<\/a> shows a group of protesters, some wearing helmets and carrying shields, being blasted and scattered by a water cannon from a nearby armored vehicle. The caption reads, \u201cA water cannon for riots in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rioting and looting recently broke out in parts of South Africa after former President Jacob Zuma started serving his 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/south-africa-riots-whats-happening-11626280457\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a>. The South African military has been deployed to quell the unrest that has left over 70 dead, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/07\/13\/africa\/south-africa-violence-protests-intl\/index.html\">CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While water cannons have, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ewn.co.za\/2021\/07\/12\/gallery-water-cannons-rubber-bullets-and-arrests-riots-hit-hillbrow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eyewitness News<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/news24\/southafrica\/news\/david-makhura-admits-cops-are-overstretched-as-gautengs-death-toll-rises-to-19-20210713\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">News24<\/a>, reportedly been used on protesters in South Africa, the video was not taken during the current unrest there. The video dates back to at least 2017, with it being <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IFLfighting\/status\/864606341133877248\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">posted on Twitter<\/a> with a caption indicating it was filmed in Venezuela.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"7.3714285714286\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Rioters vs. Watercanons \ud83d\ude33Venezuelan protesters are cleaned up by a water cannon from China as artillery for the violent anti-gov riots! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3zJGP0y57B\">pic.twitter.com\/3zJGP0y57B<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 IFL Fighting (@IFLfighting) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IFLfighting\/status\/864606341133877248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 16, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cRioters vs. Watercanons (<em>sic<\/em>),\u201d reads the tweet\u2019s caption. \u201cVenezuelan protesters are cleaned up by a water cannon from China as artillery for the violent anti-gov riots!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The version of the video in the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IFLfighting\/status\/864606341133877248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2017 tweet<\/a> contains a watermark for the video-sharing website LiveLeak. LiveLeak has since shut down, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/5\/7\/22424356\/liveleak-shock-site-shuts-down-itemfix\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Verge<\/a>. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2020\/05\/11\/fact-check-white-south-africans-banned-receiving-government-aid-coronavirus-pandemic\/\">(RELATED: Are White South Africans Banned From Receiving Government Aid During The COVID-19 Pandemic?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>AFP News Agency posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6oQzDeL4Fn0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">different angle<\/a> of the same incident on YouTube in May 2017, with the description saying, \u201cClashes erupted Wednesday between riot police and opposition protesters in Caracas, as 3,000 protesters headed for the Supreme Court, whose bid on April 1 to strengthen Maduro\u2019s grip on power by stripping authority from the legislature launched a wave of protests and deadly unrest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Venezuelans had frequent demonstrations across the country in protest of President Nicolas Maduro and his government in 2017, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/photo\/2017\/06\/months-of-anti-government-protests-continue-in-venezuela\/530031\/\">The Atlantic<\/a>. Over 100 people in Venezuela died in four months amid the anti-government protests, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-latin-america-40769737\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BBC News<\/a> reported that year.<\/p>\n<p>In the video of the protesters being hit with a water cannon, at least one of them is carrying a shield&nbsp;decorated with the colors of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/flag-of-Venezuela\">Venezuelan flag<\/a>: yellow, blue and red. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/photo\/2017\/06\/months-of-anti-government-protests-continue-in-venezuela\/530031\/\">Images<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ktBUvt4t_bw\">videos<\/a> from the 2017 Venezuelan protests show extremely similar interactions between protesters and authorities with water cannons. For instance, protesters carrying shields can be seen squaring off against the white armored vehicles of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ktBUvt4t_bw\">Venezuelan National Guard<\/a> in one video shared on YouTube by the Russian video news agency <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ktBUvt4t_bw\">Ruptly<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A video shared on Facebook allegedly shows South African protesters being hit with a water cannon.Verdict: False The video, which dates back to 2017, shows Venezuelan protesters being hit with &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-592561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}