Read on Twitter
This video is going viral, and it is extremely concerning. It depicts a Bible being tossed into a fire by BLM protesters a few nights ago. If this is accurate, it would be a very worrying message sent by protesters. So I tried to find and confirm the source: (1) https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1289512762733785088
The video has a Ruptly watermark in the corner, so I went to find the original video. It doesn’t seem to exist on their Twitter, Youtube, or website. There are many videos of that bonfire that night, but that Bible is nowhere to be found. (2) https://twitter.com/ruptly/status/1289621920292380672
Also notice how the watermark is different. I have spent the last two hours investigating these videos, and not a single Ruptly video has that dark gray watermark in the corner. It’s very suspicious (3)
I checked out news articles reporting on the so-called Bible burning. Most led to this reporter’s videos of the night. He has a thorough documentation of the bonfire’s entirety, and while there are many flags burned, that clip of the Bible is again nonexistent. (4) https://twitter.com/dannyjpeterson/status/1289464126641565697
And even if the video were *actually* published by Ruptly— it is labeled a “Questionable” source of information due to its ties with RT, a Russian news source often accused of disinformation and propaganda (5) https://www.google.com/amp/s/mediabiasfactcheck.com/ruptly/%3Famp
Basically, this video is highly questionable, and if false, is super damaging because conservative accounts are heralding this video clip as proof that BLM is trying to “dismantle all of Western Civilization and upend centuries of tradition and freedom of religion” and more— (6) https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1289513913856352256
—Including many prominent figures: (7) https://twitter.com/donaldjtrumpjr/status/1289526223039655936
I find it so concerning that information can spread so widely and quickly without a solidly backed citation (8) https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1289628398260596737
Also the only version of the clip on Youtube is posted by this dude, who seems to also be a flat-earther and spreads many wild ideas. Clearly not a reputable source, nor the original one. (9)
All of the discourse on this topic traces back to the one tweet from @stillgray. I have reached out to him to see where he obtained the video (10)
