President Donald Trump in a Fox News interview criticized local officials who he believes have lost control of protesters, defended his controversial tweet that evoked use of excessive force by police and stood by his decision to stage a Bible-hoisting photo op at a church in Washington, D.C. Host Harris Faulkner told Trump he frightened […]
Thousands of protesters thronged the streets in recent days to express their anger over the killing of an African American man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis. The mostly peaceful rallies have turned violent at times, with police using batons, tear gas and rubber bullets that caused serious injuries. That led to online social media postings […]
If you only get your news from Facebook, you might think all Black Lives Matter demonstrations devolve into riots and looting. Since George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody, PolitiFact has debunked dozens of false claims about protests against police brutality and racism across the country. Some have to do with false rumors of riots. […]
With most states reopening for business after shutting down for the novel coronavirus, some states are seeing an increase in infections. And with protest marches bringing together large numbers of people, some scientists worry that infections could rise further. However, scientists say that there’s lots of uncertainty about whether, and how much, the coronavirus will […]
For more than a week, Americans across the country have been out on the streets calling for justice for George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Activists protesting police brutality and racial discrimination are now raising specific demands they want communities […]
The outpouring of Americans demanding an end to police brutality and racism after the death of George Floyd recalls the turbulent 1960s fight for civil rights. Charlamagne tha God, host of The Breakfast Club radio show, said he hopes more change will come from the 2020 demonstrations. “Things will change after this moment,” he told […]
“The Week in Fact-checking” compiles short summaries of our best work; the links will take you to our full reports. Want this report early and via email? Sign up here. This week: Debunking misinformation about protesters … A doctored Adolf Hitler photo … Antifa is not going into neighborhoods … Trump’s inaccurate attacks on the […]
A website that was banned from Facebook rebranded as a pro-Trump news outlet to reach its audience, peddling debunked claims about the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. Natural News was one of the websites that promoted “Plandemic,” a viral documentary that made a slew of false claims about COVID-19. On May 29, NBC News reported […]
As the world waits for scientists to develop a safe and effective vaccine against the novel coronavirus, some have asked if “herd immunity” could play a part in reducing the virus’ spread. Generally, scientists say that herd immunity does have a role to play in curbing the virus prior to the development of a vaccine, […]
Voting by mail isn’t new in California. It’s been allowed for anyone who’s registered, and for any reason, since 1979, according to the California Voter Foundation. But with fears that casting a ballot in-person could be risky this fall amid COVID-19, plus President Donald Trump’s misleading claims that mail-in voting “will lead to massive fraud […]
In the minutes before President Donald Trump made his way from the White House to a neighboring church that had been burned the night before, federal police fired spray canisters and rubber bullets to disperse non-violent protesters in the area. In a Rose Garden speech, Trump pressed the need for decisive force to quell looting […]
As federal troops and police were pushing peaceful protesters out of Lafayette Square across the street from The White House, President Donald Trump was threatening a similar show of federal force in states to quell demonstrations. In a Rose Garden address June 1, Trump said he “strongly recommended” that every governor deploy the National Guard […]