Protest by Climate Activists Viral as 'People Hauled For Reading Namaz' in Paris
The video shows a group of protesters demonstrating against the French government's inaction against climate change.
Fact-Check |The claim stating that these people were reading namaz on a street in France is false.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
A clip, which shows some angry men dragging people wearing reflective vests off the road to clear traffic, is going viral on the internet with a claim that the people were reading namaz (Islamic prayer) on the road.
Social media users have shared the video identifying the location as France.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
The post is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter. We also received the video on our WhatsApp tipline.
(Archives to similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
The truth: While the video is from France, it reportedly shows people dragging some climate activists off the road on the Saint-Cloud bridge in France. These protesters were from a group called Dernière Rénovation (The Last Renovation), which is calling on the government for their inaction against climate change.
How did we find out?: A keyword search in French led us to a report on Ouest France, a French newspaper, published on 26 November.
The report carried a picture which had a similar setting and was attributed to a Twitter account.
It mentioned that a group of seven activists from the 'Last Renovation' collective were protesting on the Saint-Cloud bridge in France.
Angry commuters dragged these protesters off the road to clear the traffic, which remained block for half an hour. All seven protesters were later detained.
A comparison between both the images clearly shows the similarities.
We were also able to goelocate the place on Google Maps, where the protest reportedly took place.
The report also directed us to a tweet posted on 26 November by the group named 'Dernière Rénovation' (The Last Renovation). It mentioned that the protesters blocked the Saint Cloud bridge, Boulogne-Billancourt.
What is 'The Last Renovation' group?: It is a campaign of French civil society, which is calling on the government to act on the efficient thermal renovation of existing buildings by 2040.
The group has performed several similar non-violent protests across the country.
According to Reuters, members of the group recently blocked Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to protest against the government's insufficient action against climate change.
The group's Twitter handle has more visuals of their protests from other parts of the country.
Conclusion: A video from France which shows some angry commuters dragging climate change activists off a road is being shared with false claims.
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