FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show A Wisconsin Bar Full Of People Reacting To The Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Verdict?

A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows a Wisconsin bar full of people reacting to the jury reading its verdict in Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial.

Verdict: False

The footage from the Rittenhouse trial has been superimposed onto the television screen. The original shows fans at Ashton Gate Stadium in England reacting to a goal during a Union of European Football Associations Euro 2016 soccer game.

Fact Check:

The jury on Friday found Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, not guilty on five charges filed against him in connection to the Aug. 25, 2020, shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that left Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber dead and Gaige Grosskreutz injured. The acquittal came after nearly three and half days of deliberations, according to The Washington Post.

A video allegedly showing patrons at a packed bar cheering while the reading of the jury’s verdict plays on a large television screen has since been circulating on social media. The clip, however, has been digitally altered to include the footage from Rittenhouse’s trial, a reverse image search of key frames revealed. (RELATED: Did Kyle Rittenhouse’s Mother Drive Him To The Kenosha Protest While He Was Armed With A Rifle?)

Heart News West Country posted the original video in June 2016 on YouTube, where the caption describes it as showing “fans watching Euro 2016 on the big screen at Ashton Gate stadium” in England as they “celebrate Daniel Sturridge’s late winner for England against Wales.” CBS Sports also published the undoctored footage in a 2016 article titled “Watch as a bar in England goes nuts after late winner vs. Wales in Euro 2016.” In the original clip, soccer players can be seen playing a match on the big screen behind the bar.

This is not the first time social media users have shared versions of the video that have been altered to show things other than soccer on the screen in Ashton Gate Stadium’s bar in Bristol. In October, Check Your Fact debunked an iteration purporting to show bar patrons cheering at former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation announcement.

Other doctored versions of the video have shown the crowd cheering while watching “Game of Thrones” and “Star Wars.”

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