Fact check: Man was arrested after aggressively wielding windscreen wiper
Police said claims the man had a machete were inaccurate.
A video has circulated on social media claiming to show a man “carrying a sword” on the streets of Britain.
It is not the first time that the same video has been shared with a similar caption. In June a widely shared post from a social media account affiliated with the political party Britain First posted a longer version of the video with a caption claiming that the man had a “massive machete in North London…”
Evaluation
The video is from June 2024, and police said at the time that the item in the man’s hand is a windscreen wiper, not a sword or machete.
The facts
The first version of the video which the PA news agency could identify was uploaded to social media on June 19 2024.
That version is longer than the two claims. However, it does not include around 30 seconds from the beginning of the version posted by Britain First, but does include a section at the end which the Britain First video excludes.
Therefore, it seems apparent that there is a longer video that has circulated that both posters have taken their version of the video from. However, PA was not able to identify this original source.
This version identified the event as happening in North Finchley in London. This is confirmed by Google Street View images from the scene.
In the video it appears that the item that the man is carrying is long, black and curved at the end. The video does not get close enough to the man or the object to identify clearly what he is holding.
The man at one point raises the item above his head and looks as if he might be about to use it to hit a car. But he lowers his hand afterwards.
The police can be seen in the video arresting the man and leading him away.
A statement released on social media by the Metropolitan Police account for Barnet said the item the man was carrying was a windscreen wiper.
“We are aware of a video circulating of an incident that occurred on 16 June on High Road Finchley. Police attended and found a man holding a windscreen wiper acting aggressively. He was arrested,” the police said.
“There has been a suggestion the man was wielding a machete. This is inaccurate.”
The police added: “The man was arrested for criminal damage and being found drunk and disorderly.”
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