False claim pro-Palestinian activists removed US flag at Golden Gate Bridge | Fact check
Andre ByikThe claim: Demonstrators replaced US flag with Palestinian flag at Golden Gate Bridge
A Dec. 8 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows photos of a group of people seemingly removing an American flag in San Fransisco.
"They have no respect for America," the post's caption reads. "Palestinian activists REMOVED the flag of America and replaced it with the Palestinian flag at the Golden Gate Bridge."
The post was liked about 17,000 times in 11 days.
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Our rating: False
A spokesperson for the bridge said the U.S. flag was not removed. Local news outlets reported that a Palestinian flag was raised under an American flag at a Dec. 6 demonstration.
Palestinian flag raised beneath US flag at bridge, local news outlets report
A pro-Palestinian demonstration took place on Dec. 6 in San Francisco near the Golden Gate Bridge, according to local news reports.
During the demonstration, a Palestinian flag was hoisted under an American flag at an observation area near the Golden Gate Bridge, according to ABC7 News in San Francisco. The demonstrators called for a cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
But the U.S. flag was not removed during the protest, Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, spokesperson for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, said in an email.
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KRON 4, a San Francisco Bay-area news outlet, published footage of the demonstration showing a Palestinian flag flying under a U.S. flag on a flagpole at the Golden Gate Bridge. The image of the Palestinian flag included in the Instagram post only shows the bottom half of the flagpole.
Another local outlet, KTVU FOX 2, reported that the Palestinian flag flew for about 45 minutes before being removed and that one person was arrested for climbing the flagpole.
The Instagram user who shared the post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, Dec. 19, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- KRON 4 (YouTube), Dec. 6, Pro-Palestinian protesters march on Golden Gate Bridge
- ABC7 News, Dec. 6, Palestinian flag flown at Golden Gate Bridge amid demand for cease-fire
- KTVU FOX 2, Dec. 6, Palestinian flag hoisted, flown on Golden Gate Bridge
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