Scripted video of woman tearing down Pride flag passed off as real

By: Vivek J
September 20 2023

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Screenshots of the posts with the viral video (Source: X/TikTok)

What is the claim?

A video of a woman barging into a classroom and removing an LGBTQ+ Pride flag hung on the wall is going viral on social media. Several users believe the incident to be real and support the actions of the woman who claims to be the mother of a student. 

Sharing the video on X (formerly Twitter), one user wrote, “A REAL mom removing LGBT flags from classroom. Well done, lady.” The 88-second-long video has been shared on other platforms like Facebook and TikTok as well. Archived versions of these posts can be found here, here, and here.

Screenshot of social media posts claiming to show a woman removing a pride flag at a school. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

A slightly zoomed-out version of the same clip has also been shared on Rumble, a platform that has become a breeding ground for unverified information and conspiracies. The caption of this video on Rumble reads, “Stages or real? Mother walks into classroom and tears down pride flag (sic).” While the user who shared it on Rumble asked if the video was real or staged, several people have reshared the video as if it captured a real incident.

A screenshot of the video shared on Rumble, where the person who posted it asked if it was real or staged. (Source: Rumble.com/Screenshot)

However, the video is scripted and does not show a real event.

What we found

We found an extended version of the viral clip (around 6:41 minutes long) on the Facebook page ‘Jibrizy Media.’ Around the 6:26 timestamp, a person in the longer video speaks into the camera and says, “Hey guys, this is all a skit. What was your opinion in a situation where the mother came down and took down the flag saying her tax dollars isn’t here to support this particular thing in school?”

This clearly establishes that the video shows a scripted skit and a shorter version of this video has been shared online with the claim that it shows an actual incident.

We then looked for more information about the owner of the Facebook page and came across another page named ‘Jibrizy.’ According to the page description. ‘Jibrizy’ is a comedian and a director who makes “conversational topic videos that feel real.” We also came across the same extended version of the viral video on this page. The extended version was shared on both pages on September 16.

Screenshots from the original video shared on Facebook by 'Jibrizy' and his clarification about the video being scripted. (Source: Facebook/X/Jibrizy/Screenshots)

We found several other videos on the page featuring the same classroom setting and the same actors as the viral clip.

Screenshot of another scripted video by 'Jibrizy' with the same classroom setting. (Source: Facebook/Jibrizy/Screenshot)

We also found an X account of ‘Jibrizy,’ on which he confirmed on September 18 that the viral clip was a scripted video directed by him. His post read, “Mom rips down pride flag in classroom This video is originally my video people steal it gain a following off it and never credit me. I am the director. I create video to start discussion. It’s openly fake. But I want you to debate your point of view (sic).”

The verdict

The viral video is a scripted one and not that of an actual incident. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.