A video of several police personnel shooting a man on a highway is being shared with social media users claiming that it shows a recent incident from the United States.
What are users claiming?: The video is being shared to criticise the US and claim that while the country is "focusing on the democratic status in India", its citizens are being devoid of human rights.
(Due to the distressing nature of the visuals, we have refrained from adding any archive links.)
The video was uploaded on 30 March.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
The video had recorded around 7,76,700 views at the time of writing this report.
Are these claims true?: While the incident is from the United States, it dates back to January 2022, which makes the claim misleading.
The video shows nine police officers shooting a man named Landon Eastep on Interstate 65 in Nashville after a stand-off, following which the latter pulled out a "metal, cylindrical item".
How did we find out?: A keyword search led us to a news report published on Fox Chattanooga on 28 January 2022 which carried the viral video.
The report said that an investigation has been launched by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) related to the shooting on Interstate 65 in Nashville.
It quoted a Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron who said that a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) responded to a man found sitting on the guardrail and offered him a ride home.
He was identified as Landon Eastep (37).
Eastep was observed to be armed with a box cutter. An off-duty Metro Juliet Police also arrived to help at the scene.
A stand-off took place between the police officers who arrived on the scene and Eastep.
It further said that Eastep pulled an object which appeared to have a "cylindrical shape" from his pocket, following which at least nine police officers shot him.
The report was published on 28 January 2022.
(Source: Fox Chattanooga/Screenshot)
A similar report was published by USA Today, which added that six police officers are on routine administrative assignment following the incident.
Body-cam footage of the incident: The entire incident was recorded on one of the officer's body camera. The footage was then released. We found the footage uploaded on Associated Press' official YouTube channel.
It was uploaded on 28 January 2022 and was titled, "Officers shoot, kill man walking on interstate."
Context behind the claim: The US State Department's Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a news conference on 28 March, "Respect for the rule of law and judicial independence is a cornerstone of any democracy. We are watching Mr Gandhi’s case in Indian courts and we engage with the Government of India on our shared commitment to democratic values, including, freedom of expression."
This statement came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court after being found guilty in a defamation case.
He was then disqualified from the Lok Sabha.
Conclusion: The video of several police officers shooting a man on a highway in the United States is being shared as a recent incident.
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