A VIDEO BEING shared online showing a vicious fight, where people were kicked and stomped while on the ground, was not taken in Dublin, as some social media posts claim.
Instead, the video shows an attack in California, USA.
One version of the video, shared on Facebook, opens with the words on screen: “Our new people in Liffey valley shopping centre” and “Modern Ireland. African males V Irish females?”
Another version, which was viewed more than 2,000 times on Twitter, was shared with the description: “This took place in the Liffey Valley SC Dublin.This is not the first gang attack on an individual white female. Absolutely revolting!”
However, the video was not taken at Liffey Valley.
While the surroundings seen in the video initially appear similar to those in Liffey Valley’s food court, a number of significant details don’t match, such as the shopfronts, the column styles, a rotating digital sign, and the panelling.
The glass roof seen in the video does not match the size and shape of any in Liffey Valley, as seen from aerial photos of the building.
This is because the video was actually recorded at a Californian mall, where local media reported on the incident at the time. The video shows just one of two fights filmed on the same day in mid-March at the Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco.
Local media reported that the attacks were just part of a series of violent clashes involving teenagers in the area.
All the features from the video that did not match with Liffey Valley’s food court (shops, columns, etc.) can be identified in photos taken at the Stonestown Galleria and posted on Google Maps, confirming the location where it was filmed.
Verdict
False. A video of a vicious attack was filmed in California, not Liffey Valley, Dublin, as has been claimed.
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