ATLANTA — A video of an Atlanta Police officer surrounded and taunted by people at an active crime scene is going viral on social media right now. The website that published the video said it happened at a shooting scene Sunday in the city and also wrote that the gunman had been arrested.
But, as the video surges in popularity, 11Alive is verifying the facts to find out if it really happened.
THE QUESTION
Did this happen at a shooting in Atlanta Sunday?
THE ANSWER
No. The claim that this incident happened Sunday is false. The video is actually from a year ago during social justice protests in Atlanta last summer.
THE SOURCES
The Atlanta Police Department.
WHAT WE FOUND
It is an Atlanta Police Officer in the video. The officer is surrounded and yelled at before another bystander comes over to defend him. The video has been shared thousands of times on social media, so 11Alive wanted to find out where it came from. The website Gateway Pundit published the article Tuesday - claiming two people were shot at a Northwest Atlanta gas station.
The headline reads: Mob surrounds cop trying to respond to shooting in Atlanta, "Get Your White Face Out Of Here"
The article said the officers were shouted down and forced to leave because they're white. Without attribution, it claimed two people were shot in the incident, but expected to survive.
11Alive took the video to Atlanta Police Department Public Affairs Supervisor Sgt. John Chaffee.
"When you click on the link and look at the article, it was published on July 20 and says it happened at a shooting scene on Sunday," he said.
He said his office immediately looked into the incident and found the incident did not happen this Sunday. It happened on June 19, 2020 during the social justice protests in Atlanta.
That's nearly 400 days ago.
"I'm not sure why that was published, I don't know what their angle was, but for us, that's disrespectful. Our officers went through a lot last year and to act as if it's still occurring, that this old incident is new again, that's not what we need," he said.
So, 11Alive can verify the claim that this incident happened Sunday is false.
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