A Jan. 18 Instagram post (direct link, archived link) shows climate change activist Greta Thunberg with two policemen next to her. One holds her by the arm until police eventually escort Thunberg away.
The post also shows a clip of a Black person shoveling mud and dirt into a bag that a child later carries on his back.
"So-called climate activist Greta Thunberg gets fake arrested at a coal mine in Germany," reads the post's caption. "Meanwhile, African kids are forced to mine for rare-Earth minerals like cobalt, zinc, lithium, and more. So let's not virtue signal over being 'green.'"
The post generated over 25,000 likes in less than a week. Similar claims about the arrest being staged amassed thousands of interactions on Facebook.
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A German police spokesperson told USA TODAY the agency's interaction with Thunberg was not staged. And Thunberg was detained but was not officially arrested.
Thunberg was not arrested during the incident in question, but she was detained by German police on Jan. 17 at the open-pit coal mine of Garzweiler 2 while protesting against the demolition of a village, according to Reuters.
Several protesters, including Thunberg, stood at the brink of an open pit with a sharp dropoff, as USA TODAY previously reported. Police said people were prohibited from...
The Green Party leader wasn't challenged on the inaccurate comment during an appearance on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday. Zack Polanski has inaccurately defended his response to the Golders Green attack...