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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Crime & justice fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about crime & justice. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

6,849 published reviews in this topic

Fact CrescendoCrime & justice

Claim: fake news card shared against eswar chandran subramanian arrest issue

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a social-media card presented as a Polymer News report. It attributed to the mother of Eswar Chandran Subramanian the allegation that her son made controversial remarks about Periyar and Ambedkar because Kishore K. Swamy had offered him money. The review says the card circulated on Facebook and reports that the post it examined was published on February 28, 2022. It places the claim in the context of Subramanian’s arrest after remarks in a YouTube interview, but the disputed point is whether his mother actually made the quoted allegation. Fact Crescendo describes several checks: it searched for a report or interview by the mother, checked Polymer News’s archived material for the card, and contacted the broadcaster’s digital division. It says its searches found no such interview, and that neither the archive nor the broadcaster supported the card’s claimed provenance. The broadcaster’s digital team told the reviewers that it had not published such a story and that the card was fabricated. The review also reports that Swamy had called the card fake on Twitter. Taken together, the checks address both the alleged statement and the card’s attribution to Polymer News: the reviewers found no interview or matching item in the broadcaster’s archive, and the broadcaster denied publishing it. The supplied excerpt does not provide the underlying Facebook post, the archived search results, or the broadcaster’s direct response, so those materials cannot be independently assessed from this evidence alone.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Barack Obama hat das FBI angewiesen, über 500.000 Namen potenzieller Mörder und Pädophiler aus dem National Instant Criminal Background Check System zu entfernen, wie FBI-Direktor David Bowdich aussagte.

Publisher’s rating: 2017 wurden etwa 70 000 Verdächtige aus einer FBI-Datenbank entfernt, die Flüchtigen den Kauf von Waffen untersagt. Bowdich hat in diesem Zusammenhang weder von Pädophilen gesprochen noch davon, dass Obama die Anweisung zur Löschung gegeben hatte.

The claim combines several assertions: that Obama personally directed the FBI to remove more than 500,000 people from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), that those people were potential murderers and pedophiles, and that FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich confirmed this. The review traces the posts to a 2018 Senate hearing and reports that Bowdich described a decision by the Justice Department, not an order from Obama. It says he did not characterize the people as potential murderers or pedophiles. The underlying change concerned how the legal category “fugitive from justice” was defined for the database. In 2017, the Justice Department’s revised interpretation limited that category to suspects with an outstanding arrest warrant who had crossed state lines. The review explains that the FBI removed more than 500,000 names from that category, but about 430,000 entries remained in NICS under a different designation. Thus, about 70,000 people were removed from the database altogether; people listed there are prohibited from buying guns. The timing also matters: although the Justice Department chose the change in 2016, during Obama’s presidency, it took effect in 2017, under Trump. Bowdich testified at a Senate hearing on school shootings on March 14, 2018, that the Justice Department had made the decision “under the previous administration.” The review distinguishes that statement from evidence that Obama himself issued an instruction, which it says Bowdich did not provide.

FACTLYCrime & justice

Vaishali Yadav posted a video faking as if she was in Ukraine studying there. The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested her for false propaganda

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerned Vaishali Yadav, who had posted a video seeking help amid the war in Ukraine. Posts alleged that she was actually in India, had falsely presented herself as a student in Ukraine, and was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police for propaganda. The review examined both her location and the arrest allegation; its account says the Hardoi Superintendent of Police rejected claims that she was in India or had been arrested, and said she was in Romania. The review also describes reporting about Yadav’s whereabouts before the video circulated. It says an Amar Ujala article from December 2021 reported that she had returned to Ukraine to study after contesting and winning a Gram Pradhan election in Uttar Pradesh. The review notes that officials were investigating how she returned to Ukraine after being elected and whether there were irregularities. That inquiry is distinct from the social-media allegation that police arrested her for making a false video. The review further reports that Yadav, in a video carried by Dainik Bhaskar, said she had been in Ukraine and was then in Romania, rejecting claims that she was in India. Taken together, the police clarification and Yadav’s own reported statement contradict the central claims about her being in India and being arrested. The review does not establish that she faked her location or was arrested for propaganda.

dpaCrime & justice

Un vieil homme ayant volé du pain condamné à une amende finalement payée par le juge.

Publisher’s rating: Il n’existe pas de preuve soutenant la véracité d’une telle histoire. Celle-ci rappelle une anecdote à propos de l’ancien maire de New York dans les années 30, Fiorello La Guardia, pour laquelle il n’existe pas non plus de preuves tangibles. La photo publiée dans le post est celle de Leo Sharp, un américain de 90 ans, condamné en 2014 pour avoir transporté de la drogue.

The story under review says that an old man who stole bread was fined ten dollars, that the judge paid the fine, and that people in the courtroom were made to contribute money for him. The review says the post gives no date, location, court, or names for the alleged accused or judge. It reports that investigators found no trace of the judgment or of a proceeding ending in such a decision. Those missing details make the specific event difficult to verify; the review also notes that the reported compulsory payments would not fit Canadian legal protections as described in its account. The photo does not establish that the bread-theft event occurred. The review identifies the pictured man as Leo Sharp, an American veteran, and says he was sentenced in Detroit on May 7, 2014, to three years in prison for transporting cocaine. It reports that the pre-trial photograph was used by multiple online news sites and credited to Associated Press photographer Ed White. Thus, the image is associated with a documented drug case, not evidence of the claimed bread-theft hearing. The review also points to a similar, older anecdote attributed to former New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia, while noting that it too lacks tangible supporting evidence. It says versions differ in details, but tell of an alleged 1935 incident. The existence of that parallel story is not independent confirmation of the Canadian courtroom account; the review’s stated conclusion is that it found no evidence supporting the claimed event.

FACTLYCrime & justice

Video of a Muslim woman saving a girl from getting raped using a burqa

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as a real incident in which a Muslim woman gives a girl her burqa to help her escape a mob pursuing her to rape her. FACTLY’s investigation identifies the footage as scripted, rather than documenting the claimed rescue. Its account says the video was originally published by the 3RD EYE YouTube channel and described there as a social-awareness video made for educational and entertainment purposes. The review describes using reverse image searches of screenshots from the video to locate a video with similar visuals. That video appeared on another YouTube channel on 14 February 2022, which credited 3RD EYE; its description said the video was made for teaching, entertainment, and educational purposes. FACTLY then reports finding the original video on 3RD EYE, published on 2 February 2022, with a description identifying it as a social-awareness video created for motivation and educational purposes. This provenance and the creators’ stated purpose support the conclusion that the footage is a scripted drama, not evidence of a real-life rescue.