Yahoo News Fact Check: Video Shows Migrant Urinating on Woman in France?
Claim:
A video being shared online in late May 2024 authentically shows a migrant in France urinating on a girl while she sat on a bench.
Rating:
On May 27, 2024, an X user posted a video allegedly showing a migrant in France filming himself urinating on a girl while she sat on a bench.
The X user wrote: "Migrant in France films himself urinating on a girl on a bench. Mass deportations needed!"
The video was posted by numerous social media users. (X account @TRobinsonNewEra)
Similar posts appeared elsewhere on X in late May, including one in French and in Turkish on Reddit. Together, they had amassed more than 7.6 million views at the time of this writing.
Other X users claimed the footage was captured in Germany:
Germany: A migrant stages himself urinating on a woman in the street to punish her for being unveiled and then posts the video on social networks.
Snopes was unable to find the source of the clip; however, the earliest iteration we found online was posted on May 25, 2024, by a French X account, whose caption (originally in French) simply read: "People are crazy."
The account did not mention where the video was filmed, nor whom it depicted. However, when told by another X user that it shows an immigrant urinating on the woman, the French X user replied: "What makes you think he's an immigrant?"
Qu’est-ce qui te fais dire que c’est un immigré ?
— Youri 🦊🍃 (@Youridefou) May 26, 2024
The other X user responded: "He is dark and poorly educated. Native French people don't do that."
The man's hand can be seen in the footage, and although his skin is not pale, Snopes could not verify his race, citizenship, nor whether he was a migrant.
Snopes then contacted the French X user, who told us via email the clip was a prank and was recorded in the U.S.:
This would be a prank and it is in the United States.
However, we later asked where the French X user found the original prank video, and we were still awaiting a follow-up response. We will update this article if, or when, we receive a reply.
A reverse-image search produced no evidence of the footage existing online prior to May 25.
Using both English and French language searches, Snopes also found no related articles by reputable news outlets reporting on this specific incident. A similar search using German keywords also found no such reports.
We therefore have rated this claim and video as "Unproven" because we could not determine the source of the video and because of contradictory evidence available.
Sources:
Migrant Urinates on Woman in France - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=0287887dd28220e3&q=migrant+urinates+on+woman+in+france&tbm=nws&source=lnms&prmd=nivmbtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrnMCFnLGGAxVFQEEAHe6FAi0Q0pQJegQICxAB&biw=1280&bih=593&dpr=1.5. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Migrant Uriniert Auf Frau - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=0287887dd28220e3&q=Migrant+uriniert+auf+Frau&tbm=nws&source=lnms&prmd=invbmtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj5sKWen7GGAxWpQEEAHQpeAw8Q0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1280&bih=593&dpr=1.5. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Un Migrant Urine Sur Une Femme - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=0287887dd28220e3&q=Un+migrant+urine+sur+une+femme&tbm=nws&source=lnms&prmd=ivnbmtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio0KnenrGGAxXLVUEAHb7JDHMQ0pQJegQICRAB&biw=1280&bih=593&dpr=1.5. Accessed 28 May 2024.
'X.Com'. X (Formerly Twitter), https://x.com/Youridefou/status/1794480195182760344. Accessed 28 May 2024.
'---'. X (Formerly Twitter), https://x.com/Youridefou/status/1794728523279835221. Accessed 28 May 2024.
