Claim: “Images of Dec. 17, 2024, protest.”
Source: Austin Kawah and Inside Liberia
Verdict: Misleading; some of the images posted by Austin and Inside Liberia of the Dec. 17 post.
Full Text: Austin Kawah, a talk show host with Freedom FM, a media institution that a politician owns, Sam Sayon, posted and attached a photo on December 17, 2024, claiming that the Liberia National Police displayed an alarming level of ruthlessness and brutality against protesters during the “White Tuesday” protest in Monrovia.
Verification: Our verification found that one photo shared by Austin depicting a man with multiple head wounds and bloodstains on his shirt was posted on January 14, 2020, and published by the Sierra Leone Telegraph captioned, “Another senseless bloody violence erupts at APC party office in Freetown.”
The image was associated with violence that erupted outside the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party office in Freetown, where at least one person was injured. Please see the image below.
Another photo shared by Austin was previously posted by Inside Liberia on July 3, 2019. This post referenced violence occurring ahead of a protest in Monrovia, stating, “Ahead of the Friday, June 7 protest, violence has already started creeping in Monrovia and parts adjacent.”
Inside Liberia reported that “today was a bloody day in central Monrovia when supporters of Rep. Yekeh Kolubah and some street dwellers known as Zokos got into serious riots that left several persons wounded.”
Furthermore, Ahmeh Tidiane Biro posted one of the photos used by Inside Liberia on April 30, 2019, using his Twitter account.
Conclusion: Except for the image with a guy in a yellow jacket and black trousers with a plastic tie around his leg and the screenshots of the police carrying out their duties, the rest of the photos have no link to Liberia; the others are from past incidents both in and out of Liberia.
