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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.

6,853 published reviews in this topic

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Auf Facebook kursiert ein Foto, das einen angeblichen Kindesentführer zeigt. Er sei in den Kölner Stadtteilen Ostheim, Mühlheim und Neubrück unterwegs, heißt es. «Dieser Mann klaut Kinder», wird gewarnt.

Publisher’s rating: Die Kölner Polizei hat den abgebildeten Mann längst identifiziert und ermittelt, dass er Opfer einer Verleumdungskampagne geworden ist. Dennoch macht der Facebook-Post bereits seit mehr als einem Jahr die Runde.

The post warned that a man pictured in a photograph was abducting children in the Cologne districts of Ostheim, Mülheim and Neubrück. The review reports that the warning was false: police identified the man and found that he was the target of a defamation campaign, not a child abductor. It also says that, when police investigated the original warning, they found no known child-abduction case in Cologne at that time. [S1: “Denn erstens stellten die Beamten fest, dass es zum damaligen Zeitpunkt keinen bekannten Fall von Kindesentführung in Köln gegeben hatte. Zweitens war es den Polizisten rasch gelungen, den abgebildeten Mann zu identifizieren und zu verhören. Das Ergebnis: Er ist kein Täter, sondern Opfer einer Verleumdungskampagne.”] The review traced the photograph through a reverse-image search to a newspaper report published in late May 2019. That report showed the false warning had already been circulating on social media then. The review says Cologne police responded on May 29, 2019, and identified the man after he was photographed in Ostheim. [S1: “Eine Bilderrückwärtssuche führt zu einem Zeitungsbericht, der Ende Mai 2019 im «Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger» erschien. Auch daraus geht hervor, dass der verleumderische Fahndungsaufruf schon damals in den sozialen Netzwerken verbreitet wurde.”] [S1: “Schon am Nachmittag des 29. Mai 2019 gab sie mittels einer Pressemitteilung Entwarnung.”] The review further reports that police opened an investigation into the unknown person who photographed the man and circulated the unlawful search notice. It notes that the image was later reposted and shared thousands of times, despite earlier reporting on the defamation campaign. Thus, the post’s warning recycled an already-discredited accusation rather than documenting a confirmed abduction. [S1: “Die Polizei leitete darum ein Ermittlungsverfahren gegen den Unbekannten ein, der den Mann im Kölner Stadtteil Ostheim fotografiert und den illegalen Fahndungsaufruf im Netz verbreitet hatte.”] [S1: “Trotzdem wurde das Bild nun wieder veröffentlicht und tausendfach geteilt.”]

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

In einem Text wird behauptet, ein Bundesgericht in den USA habe entschieden, dass Barack Obama als Terrorist angeklagt werden könne. Das «13. Bundesgericht für Schriftstücke und Haftbefehle» habe den Weg freigemacht, den ehemaligen US-Präsidenten Barack Obama wegen Hochverrat anzuklagen».

Publisher’s rating: Ein solches Gericht existiert nicht. Die Behauptung stammt ursprünglich von einer US-amerikanischen Satireseite.

The claim says that a U.S. federal court had ruled that Barack Obama could be charged as a terrorist and had opened the way to charge the former president with treason. The review says the named “13th Federal Court for Writs and Warrants” does not exist. It also traces the claim to a post on Freeworldnews.us, which presented it as factual news and attributed it to another site, obamawatcher.com. The review describes several checks bearing on the claim’s provenance and credibility. It points to a list of U.S. federal courts and says the article’s purported Justice Department spokesperson, “Art Tubolls,” was not listed among press-office staff. It also reports that PolitiFact’s research identified Tubolls as fictional and noted that the name had repeatedly been used as a source for false claims. The review adds an important qualification about the source trail: the Freeworldnews.us article linked to Obama Watcher but did not disclose that Obama Watcher described itself as a satire and parody site. It further reports that Freeworldnews.us had no imprint and was registered in June 2020. Taken together, the review’s account identifies the supposed court as nonexistent and the story as originating in satire, rather than documenting an actual court ruling or charge.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

In sozialen Netzwerken kursiert das Foto eines Mannes, der sich scheinbar über einen Fötus beugt, der am Boden liegt. Im Hintergrund brennt eine Flamme.

Publisher’s rating: Das Bild ist aus zwei Aufnahmen zusammengefügt. Die Originalszene wurde 2013 in Israel aufgenommen und zeigt den damaligen Schweizer Außenminister Didier Burkhalter bei einer Kranzniederlegung. Das andere Foto wurde im selben Jahr im Zusammenhang mit einer Abtreibung in China verbreitet.

The image described in the claim is a composite, not a photograph of one scene. The review says that the background scene was photographed in Israel in 2013 and shows Didier Burkhalter, then Switzerland’s foreign minister, laying a wreath. A separate image, associated with an abortion in China, was combined with it to create the circulated picture. The review traces the background photograph to Burkhalter’s visit to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on May 2, 2013. It identifies AP photographer Sebastian Scheiner as the photographer who captured him during the wreath-laying. This provenance explains the apparent scene behind the added image: it was a commemorative event, not evidence that Burkhalter was present at the event depicted in the foreground. The review also reports that the second image was already circulating online by then. It points to a March 25, 2013, LifeNews article about an abortion in Chuzhou, China, which said the photograph originated in connection with that event. Thus the two elements came from different images and contexts; the supplied excerpt does not independently establish further details about the Chinese image’s origin.

FACTLYCrime & justice

An armed robbery gang is active in Hisar

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The fact-check examined a social-media post claiming that an armed robbery gang was active in Hisar and presenting a collage of four images as support. The investigation reports that it found no information about the alleged Hisar gang or the supposed recent robbery, and concludes that the images did not substantiate the story. Its conclusion is specific to the post and evidence it checked; the excerpt does not establish that no robberies ever occur in Hisar. The review used reverse-image searches and examined earlier appearances and descriptions of the pictures. It traced the first image to an archived article dated 29 September 2015 that reported an alleged crime in Mumbai, while cautioning that it could not verify that the image was connected to that particular crime. The second image was found circulating online at least since October 2015, including in posts from Oman and Brazil with different claims; the review says it could not identify that image’s original source. For the third image, the review found a Deviantart listing under the profile Viergacht, published in 2011 and described as depicting a cryptid creature. It also notes that the image had been debunked after being shared in 2017 with a different Rajasthan-related claim. The review could not establish the fourth image’s original source, but found no information linking it to the alleged Hisar gang or to the other images. Taken together, these findings support the review’s conclusion that the collage was old or unrelated material being used to promote an unsupported Hisar robbery story.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Op Facebook circuleert regelmatig een foto van Lady Gaga, Robert Wilson en Marina Ambramovich tegenover een naaktmodel dat bedekt is met grijze verf en leunt tegen een boom. Het opschrift bij de foto identificeert het model als Ryan Singleton, die "duidelijk vreselijk heeft gezweet en bedekt is met bloem en god weet wat, staand op sintels". De beroemdheden zouden zich in een bos bevinden na te hebben genoten van een jacht voor het diner. Singleton zou niet lang daarna vermoord teruggevonden zijn zonder zijn organen. "Hij was gestript, geadrenodraineerd (sic) en bestolen van zijn ziel zodat deze roofdieren ervan konden genieten".

Publisher’s rating: Het naakte beschilderde model is niet Ryan Singleton. De artiest die de bodypainting deed, Trina Merry, bevestigde op Twitter dat het model in de foto niet Ryan Singleton is, die dood werd teruggevonden.

Noticias TelemundoCrime & justice

“El crimen está aumentando dos, tres y hasta cuatro veces en las grandes ciudades”.

Publisher’s rating: Falta contexto

The claim concerns Ronna McDaniel’s warning during the 2020 Republican National Convention that crime was increasing by multiples in large cities. Noticias Telemundo’s review places that statement against national crime trends and recent increases in some cities. It reports that U.S. crime rates were at their lowest levels in at least 25 years, and that the downward trend began well before Donald Trump took office. The review gives two comparisons using rates per 100,000 people. In 2018, the robbery rate was 376, compared with 987 in 1995; the 2018 violent-crime rate was 368.9, the second-lowest figure since 1995, behind only 2014’s 361.6. These long-term national figures provide relevant context, but do not by themselves disprove that particular crimes rose sharply in particular cities over a shorter period. The review acknowledges that homicide and other crime rates rose in some cities during the summer of 2020. It cites a report by the Council on Criminal Justice, which attributed some recent increases in part to declining police legitimacy after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis on May 25. The excerpt does not give city-by-city figures or specify the underlying time periods behind McDaniel’s multiples, so it does not independently assess each possible local comparison. Its central qualification is that short-term, localized increases do not erase the decades-long national decline.

PolitiFactCrime & justice

"In 1994, Biden led the charge on a crime bill that put millions of Black Americans behind bars."

Publisher’s rating: This needs context

Related reporting on Gary Tyler’s book says the 1994 crime bill was “largely written by Senator Joe Biden” and links it to an “unprecedented rise” in a passage whose sentence is cut off in the supplied excerpt. That supports the connection between Biden and the bill, but the excerpt does not say he “led the charge,” quantify how many people were imprisoned, or specify that the increase was among Black Americans. It therefore does not establish the claim’s full description or its scale.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Der Bundespräsident soll angeblich Frauen dazu aufgerufen haben, sich selbst vor sexualisierter Gewalt zu schützen. «Auch Frauen müssen sich auf den Fortschritt einstellen, Verhaltensregelungen üben, um kein Opfer einer Vergewaltigung durch Ausländer zu werden», ist auf Facebook neben einem Foto von Frank-Walter Steinmeier zu lesen - sodass es wie ein Zitat wirkt.

Publisher’s rating: Das angebliche Zitat von Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier ist frei erfunden. Verbreitet wird es mit dem Schriftzug einer Person, die dafür bekannt ist, solche Falschzitate als Satire zu bezeichnen - was aber oft missverstanden wird.

The claim concerns a Facebook image that presented a statement about women needing to change their behaviour to avoid rape by foreigners as if it had been said by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The review describes the image as carrying a photo of Steinmeier and says the quotation appeared alongside it. It reports that the post was shared on Facebook, with a linked post dated 20 August. The review’s examination found no evidence that Steinmeier had made the statement: the wording was absent from both the president’s speech and interview archive and a Google search, according to the article. The image also bore the wording “In Satira by Uwe Ostertag” at its lower left. The review says it was unclear whether Ostertag had originally created this particular image, while noting that similar posts associated with him were known. It reports that Ostertag described himself as a “troll” and said he used such posts as satire. That context matters because the image could be taken as a genuine quotation: the review notes that Facebook commenters reacted to it as a real statement, including by condemning it. The article places the image among a series of false quotations circulated with Ostertag’s wording, and says Mimikama had already debunked this specific Steinmeier quotation in April 2020. The evidence presented therefore supports treating the attributed statement as fabricated, while distinguishing the unverified question of who originally made this particular image from the review’s finding about the quotation itself.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Im November 1945, ein halbes Jahr nach Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges, begannen die «Nürnberger Prozesse». In diesen klagten die Siegermächte NS-Verbrecher an. In einem Facebook-Posting heißt es, in den Prozessen «wurden 19 Nazis verurteilt». Der Rest, so wird angedeutet, sei ungestraft davongekommen, viele hätten noch Karriere gemacht.

Publisher’s rating: Allein im prominentesten «Hauptkriegsverbrecherprozess» wurden 19 führende Nationalsozialisten verurteilt; in zwölf «Nachfolgeprozessen» wurden 142 weitere NS-Täter bestraft. Dennoch blieben etliche unbescholten und konnten ihre Karrieren fortsetzen.

The Facebook post’s figure of 19 refers to the verdicts in the best-known Nuremberg proceeding, not to all the trials grouped under the name “Nuremberg trials.” The review explains that the main proceeding began in Nuremberg on 20 November 1945, and that the phrase also encompasses twelve later proceedings. Thus the post gives a figure from one part of the record while implying it describes the whole.