Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke May 30, 2020

Video clips show the Ohio Statehouse, not the White House

If Your Time is short

  • Protesters broke windows and damaged property at the Ohio Statehouse during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd on May 29. 
  • No protesters broke into the White House in Washington, D.C.
 

A couple thousand people protested outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 29 over the death of George Floyd after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into the black man’s neck. 

NBC News reported that protesters chanted "black lives matter" and that the Secret Service put the White House under lockdown as the demonstration grew outside its gates. At one point, according to NBC, Secret Service officers took a woman into custody after she climbed over a barrier. Protesters later moved to the Trump International Hotel and demonstrated there, NBC said. 

But they didn’t break into the White House as social media posts claim

"THEY BROKE INTO THE WHITE HOUSE," reads the text over a clip of a demonstration that shows a man using a chair to break a window on a white building with columns. In another video clip, people gather outside a domed white building with columns. 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

Sign up for PolitiFact texts

The video does not show the White House in Washington, D.C. It’s the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, where protesters smashed windows during demonstrations. A local NBC affiliate reported that the protests began peacefully but were broken up by police as they became destructive. 

Featured Fact-check

Twenty-eight windows were broken, five lamp poles were damaged, and American flags were burned by demonstrators, according to Newsweek

"One protester was able to gain access to the Statehouse through a broken window to an office," Newsweek quotes Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Craig Cvetan as saying. "However, the protester fled back out the window before troopers could apprehend him from the interior. He was taken into custody by Columbus police when he exited the window."

We rate this Facebook post False.

 

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Ciara O'Rourke

Video clips show the Ohio Statehouse, not the White House

Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Sign me up