An Australian TV reporter’s shooting with a rubber bullet by US police has sparked the resharing of a false claim about protester injuries during anti-lockdown demonstrations in Melbourne in 2021.

The catch is the photos posted alongside the claim show injuries suffered by people in overseas protests that preceded the Melbourne demonstrations and were not related to Covid-19 restrictions.

An X post shared on June 11 said “the people who hid this now want your empathy”, apparently referring to police shooting Nine News correspondent Lauren Tomasi with a rubber bullet while she was recording a piece to camera at protests against immigration raids in LA days earlier.

“Press [heart emoji] if you have zero sympathy for the mass media,” the caption said.

Photo: X/AAP

The X post features a composite image showing three people displaying rubber bullet wounds — a man with back injuries, a woman showing a deep wound in her side, and another younger woman who had been hit in the forehead.

“Rubber bullets used on freedom protestors (sic) in Melbourne, Australia by the police,” overlay text says.

One reply to the post shared a screen grab of an X post by Tomasi in July 2021.

“I must say, these accused ‘protestors’ are very meek and mild in their handcuffs today. No screaming about fake news and fake viruses today, folks,” she wrote at the time.

The graphic in the main X post has also been shared on Facebook.

“While everyone is outraged by what happened to an Australian journalist, here...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijAFBVV95cUxNX0pHbjV5ak1vNlJ0LWxFMXZL...