'No Kings' protest footage mispresented after US strikes on Iran
- Published on June 24, 2025 at 17:16
- 7 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"BIG BREAKING : Mass protests errupt across America as citizens take to the streets in outrage after the US launches attack on Iran," says a June 22, 2025 X post, which shows throngs of people lining a waterfront area.
Similar posts reverberated across X and other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. They also spread in Spanish, German, French and Arabic.
The posts circulated after Trump said June 21 that the US military had executed a "very successful attack" on three Iranian nuclear sites, including the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo. The operation, dubbed "Midnight Hammer," added to a more than week-long Israeli campaign that also targeted Tehran's top military brass, fueling fears of a wide regional conflict.
The US president announced a fragile ceasefire in the war between Iran and Israel June 23 after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at a US base in Qatar.
Small anti-war demonstrations protesting the Trump administration's airstrikes popped up in several US cities June 22, according to reports. The locations included San Diego, where local news stations reported that dozens of people gathered to rally against the bombings (archived here and here).
The video spread across social media, however, is unrelated.
Reverse image searches revealed that the same footage had been posted to Instagram as early as June 14, with a caption indicating it was filmed during a so-called "No Kings" protest hosted in San Diego (archived here). Similar demonstrations decrying the policies of "king" Trump were organized in cities and towns throughout the United States.
AFP reached out to the poster of the video for comment, but no response was forthcoming.
AFP geolocated the clip to the Savina condominium complex, located on downtown San Diego's Ash Street near the Waterfront Park. Google Street View imagery, Google Earth satellite imagery and photos attached to Google reviews show the same surrounding buildings, as well as the Star of India and other ships harbored at the Maritime Museum of San Diego (archived here, here and here).
According to local reports, the "No Kings" protest in San Diego saw protesters congregate at the Waterfront Park, with some marching down Ash Street to get there (archived here).
Local news photos and videos of the June 14 event show large crowds gathered and marching around the same streets and landmarks that appear in the clip misrepresented online (archived here and here).
AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.
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