Publication: Crime
Logically→ No, this video does not show a sniper on a French rooftop during recent rioting
Logically→ No, this video does not show looters robbing a jewelry store in France
The Dispatch→ What About Marc Fogel?
A schoolteacher’s family wants answers from Washington two years after his arrest in Russia.
Logically→ Video from China shared to falsely claim Muslim immigrant attacked a woman in Spain
Logically→ Image of 23-year-old woman murdered by husband in Maharashtra given communal spin
The Dispatch→ The Death of Jordan Neely
New York City Mayor Eric Adams. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)Was the tragedy an example of vigilantism—or self-defense? Continue reading The Death of Jordan Neely »
The Dispatch→ How About Zero Tolerance for Crime?
(Photo via Getty Images)It’s not hopeless or naïve. It’s the government’s job.Continue reading How About Zero Tolerance for Crime? »
The Dispatch→ Why are Businesses Fleeing Portland?
Store Closing sign seen outside Walmart at Delta Park in North Portland, Oregon. (via Getty Images)Examining claims that crime in Portland is to blame for recent business closures.Continue reading Why are Businesses Fleeing Portland? »
The Dispatch→ In Praise of Normalcy
Protesters in Chicago hold signs as they rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, on January 27, 2023. It’s how most Americans want to live their lives, contrary to the assumptions of arrogant radicals.Continue reading In Pr
Logically→ No, Atiq Ahmed’s lawyer Vijay Mishra’s home in Prayagraj was not attacked with a crude bomb
The Dispatch→ Even Systemic Problems Need Local Solutions
A gate is used to lock items at a pharmacy and convenience store in New York City. A surge in shoplifting is occurring in New York City and in cities across the country. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)An uptick in shoplifting is a national trend,
The Dispatch→ The Return of the Firing Squad, Explained
A man dies by firing squad in Cuba in 1935.(Photo by KEYSTONE-FRANCE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)Idaho’s state legislature paves the way for the execution method’s return. Continue reading The Return of the Firing Squad, Explained »
The Dispatch→ America’s Changing Death Penalty Debate
A lethal injection gurney is shown before being dismantled in March 2019 at California's San Quentin State Prison. (Photo by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via Getty Images)Americans are souring on the death penalty for lo
The Dispatch→ The Committee to Pillory Carol Siemon
"The Rock" on the campus of Michigan State University is painted as a memorial to those killed by a gunman on February 15, 2023, in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)A prosecutor could have put the Michigan State shoo
Logically→ Police have accused a migrant of sexually assaulting a woman in Finglas, Dublin.
The accused suspect of the sexual assault is a white Irish man and not a migrant. At this time the accused has not been apprehended.
Logically→ Video of retaliation between Mexican security forces and Sinaloa cartel after Ovidio Guzmán’s arrest in January 2023.
Old footage of a clash between Mexican security forces with a crime group is being falsely linked to the recent unrest after Guzmán's arrest.
The Dispatch→ The Charges Against Sam Bankman-Fried
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is led away by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by MARIO DUNCANSON/AFP via Getty Images)The former FTX CEO could see serious jail time stemming from a range of alleged crimes: A Dispatc
Snopes→ Is Crime on the Rise? A Criminologist Explains Why the Answer Can Vary
Despite the apparently confident assertions of politicians, it’s not so easy to make sense of fluctuations in the crime rate, writes this associate professor.
Truth or Fiction?→ How Local ABC Affiliates Spread the Same Debunked ‘Warning’ About Fentanyl
A story out of Los Angeles, California that hinged on fearmongering from law enforcement regarding “Halloween fentanyl” in October 2022 served as another example of how television news affiliates can amplify disinformation — all witho
Snopes→ Call Shows Inmates Knew ‘Whitey’ Bulger Was Moving to Prison
Inmates at a troubled West Virginia prison where James “Whitey” Bulger was beaten to death found out ahead of time that the notorious Boston gangster would be arriving.
Logically→ No increasing trend was observed in communal riots in India between 2018 and 2020.
Even though there was a decline in the number of communal riots from 2018 to 2019 in India, the figure almost doubled in 2020 as per NCRB data.
Snopes→ Wisconsin Court: Sex Trafficking Can Be Defense for Homicide
A woman accused of killing a man can argue at trial that she was justified because he was sexually trafficking her, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled.
Logically→ Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were convicted of the 1964 disappearance of ten students from Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada.
ITCCS, the purported court that ruled the Queen and Prince Philip guilty of abducting pupils from Kamloops, is a one-person blog with no legal status.
Logically→ A video circulating online shows a group of Ukrainian refugees beating a Polish citizen to death.
Polish officials have confirmed that the perpetrators of the murder in the video were Polish citizens, not Ukrainian refugees.
Logically→ The Texas school shooter was trans.
A photo of an unrelated transgender woman from Georgia has been shared, with claims the image depicts the Texas school shooter.
Logically→ This image shows Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann with Goldy Brar, who has claimed responsibility for singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder.
The man pictured in the widely shared image is not the one who is allegedly responsible for Moose Wala's murder. They just have the same name.
Logically→ A shooter attacked a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, due to COVID-19 induced paranoia.
Preliminary investigation shows the Buffalo mass shooting was a racially motivated hate crime. There is no proof of COVID-19 being the cause.
Snopes→ Bodies Found in Lake Mead Renew Interest in Vegas Mob Lore
“There’s no telling what we’ll find in Lake Mead,” former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said.
Snopes→ Fugitive Inmate Captured After Manhunt, Ex-Jail Officer Dead
A former Alabama jail official on the run with a murder suspect she was accused of helping escape shot and killed herself as authorities caught up with the pair after more than a week of searching.
Logically→ A video shows a Muslim man stabbing a girl for refusing to convert to Islam in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.
A young woman was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend in Berhampore over a personal issue, not a communal issue.
Logically→ Violent crime went up more during the Trump administration than during the Obama administration.
There is no complete data on violent crime rates for the two administration periods. Regulations for recording crime have also changed in this time.
Logically→ Russian forces captured the commander of the Azov Battalion in Mariupol in March 2022.
An old video has been used to falsely claim that Russian forces in Ukraine captured the leader of the Azov Regiment in March 2022.
Logically→ The Russian Air Force has used prohibited phosphorus bombs to attack Ukraine.
There are no independent sources to verify whether the Russians have used white phosphorus bombs on Ukraine.
Logically→ The Russian Air Force has used prohibited phosphorus bombs to attack Ukraine.
There are no independent sources to verify whether the Russians have used white phosphorus bombs on Ukraine.
Snopes→ Nebraska US Rep. Fortenberry Found Guilty in Campaign Probe
U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was convicted on charges that he lied to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire.
Snopes→ FBI Eyeing 6 Suspects After Bomb Threats at Black Colleges
More than a third of America’s 101 historically Black colleges and universities have been targeted by calls or emails threatening to set off bombs on their campuses since early January.
Snopes→ Police Arrest Man Suspected of Stalking, Killing Homeless
Police said they arrested a suspected gunman who has been stalking homeless men asleep on the streets of New York City and Washington D.C.
Snopes→ Video Shows Man Stabbing 2 Workers at New York’s MOMA
Video from the Museum of Modern Art shows the moment a man leaped over a reception desk and stabbed two employees as they tried to flee.
Snopes→ Woman Whose Rape DNA Led to Her Arrest To Sue San Francisco
The woman whose DNA from a sexual assault case was used by San Francisco police to arrest her in an unrelated property crime plans to sue the city.