Debunked: Video of church attack was filmed in Nebraska a decade ago, not present-day Europe

FOOTAGE OF A 71-year-old woman being attacked in a church has been spread online, along with claims that the attack happened recently in Ireland or another European country, and that “the media would never show you” the video.

The media in fact did show the video – but back in 2015 when the attack actually occurred in the American state of Nebraska.

“It’s OUR COUNTRY!!!” one post filled with Irish tricolour emojis on Facebook begins.

“THIS will not be tolerated!!! We are standing up for our vulnerable and our future generations. The Deciet [sic], Lies and Treachery of this GOVERNMENT will not be forgotten” says the 12 April post, which has been viewed more than 168,000 times.

The post features a video originally posted on the account of an Irish anti-immigrant influencer who calls himself Michael McCarthy.

The video shows McCarthy commenting while security footage of an attack by two men against an older woman in a church plays in an onscreen box.

McCarthy’s video has accumulated 114,552 likes and has been viewed more than 1,700,000 times since it was posted on 9 April, according to data provided by Meta, Instagram’s parent company.

The video on Michael McCarthy's Instagram, as well as some very angry comments.

“These are the videos that the media will never show you,” McCarthy says to camera. “But it’s very important people understand just what’s going on around Europe.”

It is unclear what McCarthy is referring to here, though his previous post also includes footage filmed in a church, showing a young man politely talk to stewards in English (which the stewards appear to have a limited grasp of), then switching to Arabic to insult them.

“Would you invite this man into your house, let alone country?” McCarthy asks.  

Copies of the CCTV footage can be found in numerous media stories from when the incident actually happened. 

“CCTV Shows Church Robbers Hitting Pensioner”, reads a Sky News headline on the story featuring the same security camera footage in August 2015.

The incident had occurred the previous Sunday at the St Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska. By the time the Sky News story was published, one of the suspects had been identified by local police.

Since then, the two perpetrators have been arrested, tried, found guilty, and sentenced.

The use of videos or images with misleading descriptions is one of the most common ways that fake stories make their way around the internet.

The Journal has recently debunked other videos from other countries that were shared with descriptions indicating it was filmed in Ireland. Almost all of these were shared to denigrate immigrants or non-white people.

These include a video of black men beating up a white woman and smashing screens in an airport, as well as videos and images that supposedly show the arrival of large numbers of migrants. All of these were said to have been taken in Ireland — none of them were.

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