For the first time in two years, Europe’s festive Christmas markets have opened to the public, including in Germany, where a group of people protested COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.
On social media, some are sharing a video from the Dec. 13 demonstration in Stralsund, Germany, claiming it shows a man dressed as Santa Claus being arrested by authorities for refusing to wear a mask.
“German Santa arrested for not masking up,” reads the title of a Dec. 14 YouTube video that accumulated more than 14,000 views within a couple of days. The clip was uploaded by Russia Today, a state news site that has previously shared misinformation.
Other websites, such as the Euro Weekly News and DJHJ Media, published similar claims. On Twitter, a Dec. 13 video of the incident generated more than 900,000 views with the caption, “NEW – Police arrested ‘Santa Claus’ today at a Christmas market in Germany because he was not wearing a mask.”
But the man was actually arrested for failing to provide proper identification at the unregistered protest, not for refusing to wear a mask, according to a police statement.
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The websites and accounts that shared the video did not return requests for comment.
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