Video does not show a convoy of trucks breaching an Arizona border checkpoint

A TikTok video alarmingly claims a section of the United States southern border has been breached and shows trucks speeding through a checkpoint, blaring their horns as people nearby cheer.

The Dec. 30 video is captioned: “BREAKING – A large convoy of trucks just breached the U.S. border patrol checkpoint in Arizona.” It has been liked more than 23,000 times. 

TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)

However, this video shows neither a breaking news event nor a breach of the U.S. border. Other accounts have shared the same footage, which appears to show a location in Colombia, since at least September 2023.  

We found no news reports of such a convoy breaching southern border checkpoints. We could not identify the video’s source, but user comments suggest it was filmed in August 2023 in Colombia during widespread protests against a rise in the fuel costs. Part of the protest involved speeding through tollbooths without stopping to pay.

The TikTok user who posted the video in September tagged the location as Peaje Pipiral, a tollbooth in Villavicencio, central Colombia.

Colombia truckers’ protests also happened in 2008 and 2015. 

We rate the claim that a large convoy of trucks just breached the U.S border patrol checkpoint in Arizona False.

By

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu

Staff writer

January 10, 2024

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

 

• This footage does not show a breaking news event or a U.S. border breach. It previously was posted at least four months ago and is likely linked to an August 2023 Colombia truckers' protest.  

Statement

“BREAKING – A large convoy of trucks just breached the U.S. border patrol checkpoint in Arizona.”

Context

a video

Speaker/Target

Speaker: TikTok posts

Statement Date

December 30, 2023