In recent days, the video has resurfaced online, yet it actually captures riots that occurred in December 2022, following a fatal shooting targeting the Kurdish community in Paris.
A video has rapidly circulated online, allegedly depicting chaos on the streets of Paris after a recent disturbance.
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Posts on X claim the footage shows recent scenes from the French capital, questioning the absence of media coverage on these events.
Meanwhile, another post likens the footage to missile strikes in the Middle East amid the ongoing Iran conflict, assigning blame to French President Emmanuel Macron.
These posts have amassed hundreds of thousands of views—some surpassing one million—and have been liked and reshared thousands of times.
They have even been echoed by marginal outlets, including the Greek website Pellain, which ran a headline based on a viral X post reading, «This is not Beirut or Tehran. This is Macron’s France.» (Αυτή δεν είναι η Βηρυτός ή η Τεχεράνη. Αυτή είναι η Γαλλία του Μακρόν.)
Nonetheless, these posts misrepresent the facts by removing the footage from its original context. While it does portray the streets of Paris during a riot, the material dates back to December 2022 rather than recent days.
A reverse image search of a frame from the video links to several news reports from that period, clarifying that the images document protests sparked by a deadly shooting targeting the Kurdish community in Paris.
The attack resulted in three fatalities and additional injuries. French officials have classified it as a racially motivated hate crime.
William Malet admitted to the murders, stating he harbored a «pathological hatred» for foreigners. He remains detained as the case proceeds through the French judicial system.
In July 2025, French media reported that investigative magistrates forwarded the case to criminal courts on charges of racism, excluding terrorism-related accusations.
The ensuing protests escalated after the government dismissed terrorism as a potential cause, with some accusing the Turkish government of involvement, a claim denied by Turkey.
Demonstrators overturned vehicles, set fires, and clashed with riot police, resulting in multiple arrests and injuries on both sides.
The incident’s timing was sensitive, occurring just before the 10th anniversary of the 2013 killings of three Kurdish activists in Paris.
In that prior case, three female activists were murdered in the city’s 10th arrondissement. The main suspect died in 2017, causing authorities to close that investigation.
Victims’ families submitted a new complaint, prompting a probe into possible Turkish state agents’ involvement in 2019. However, the crime remains unresolved.
French Response, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ anti-disinformation unit, has confirmed that the current circulating video is from 2022, not 2026, condemning its redistribution on social media as «framing» rather than legitimate «evidence,» responding to a now-deleted post sharing the clip.