CNN has rebutted a claim by alt-right bloggers that they “staged” a live shoot of Muslim people rallying against radicalism in the wake of the terrorist attack in London.
A video posted on YouTube claims to show CNN “staging the narrative” by having Muslim mothers rallying in support of London police gathered in front of cameras.
The signs held by the mothers read “#ISIS Will Lose, #Love Will Win,” “To The Heroes of London,” and “#TurnToLove #ForLondon,” among other phrases.
Far-right bloggers seem to believe that CNN set up the shot to show Muslims in a positive light following the attacks, which left seven people dead and 48 hospitalized when attackers hit pedestrians with a van on the London Bridge and then drove into Borough Market and stabbed people with knives.
The video shows several police officers standing next to a crime scene tape and slowly allowing some of those at the rally past the cordoned off area to stand in front the cameras. Behind the cameras, the video shows several producers, likely making it difficult it turn the cameras and film the protesters.
CNN’s Becky Anderson then stands in front of them and speaks for a narrated part of a segment.
The video was first posted to Twitter by @MarkAntro. It caught the attention of alt-right blogger and personality Mike Cernovich, who shared the video with hundreds of thousands of followers across his social media accounts, including Twitter, Medium, and YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muME4lb7YhM
It’s a fairly normal practice for television news outlets to arrange protesters in front of cameras, especially when, as CNN claims, the protesters were nearby.
“This is nonsense,” CNN’s PR team said in a tweet. “Police let demonstrators through the cordon to show their signs. CNN along with other media simply filmed them doing so.”
This is nonsense. Police let demonstrators through the cordon to show their signs. CNN along with other media simply filmed them doing so.
— CNN International PR (@cnnipr) June 5, 2017
Brian Stelter, CNN’s Reliable Sources host, also said the video was “misleading.”
Far-right twitterers are misleading folks about this video. Bloggers saying CNN was caught "staging fake news" (1/2) https://t.co/lvz6xznj18
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 5, 2017
Police allowed demonstrators thru cordon "so they could show their signs" to media, @CNNPR says. CNN, BBC, AP "simply filmed them doing so."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 5, 2017