Image shows woman arrested at 2019 Hawaii protest, not after Maui wildfires | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·3 min read
13

The claim: Image shows woman being arrested in Maui for visiting home

A Sept. 8 post (direct link, archive link) on X, formerly Twitter, includes an image of a woman on the ground surrounded by police officers in front of burnt cars and buildings.

“THEY ARE STILL ARRESTING PEOPLE FOR VISITING THEIR OWN HOMES IN MAUI 31 DAYS AFTER THE FIRES AND THE MEDIA BAN REMAINS ACTIVE,” reads the post. “WHAT ARE THEY TRYING SO HARD TO HIDE!?”

The post was shared more than 25,000 times on X and nearly 400 times on Facebook in one week.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

Our rating: False

The woman in the photo was arrested at a protest in 2019. Her arrest was unrelated to wildfires on the Hawaiin island of Maui in August. The image shared on X is a composite of two images.

Reports of residents blocked, arrested in Maui but image does not depict it

A photo showing the woman and officers in the image can be found in a November 2019 article from the Honolulu Civil Beat, a nonprofit local news organization. The photo's caption states it was taken at a protest in Waimanalo, Hawaii, earlier that year.

The outlet had previously reported Honolulu police arrested dozens of protesters demonstrating against the construction of a sports field and parking lot on what they described as sacred ground.

However, the background image of the burnt landscape visible in the post on X does stem from the Maui wildfires that killed at least 97 in August.

Agence France-Presse correspondent Paula Ramon took a photo that appears to show the same scene in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 11, according to its caption on Getty Images. The photo can also be seen on Ramon’s X account and news reports from outlets including CNBC, The Atlantic and Deadline.

Fact check: No evidence Maui wildfires intentionally set in 'land grab,' contrary to posts 

Though the image shared in the X post is not legitimate, Maui residents have been blocked from entering their homes in the aftermath of the fires, as reported by The Washington Post. They are expected to be allowed back starting in late September.

A 39-year-old Lahaina man was arrested on Aug. 18 on suspicion of entering the wildfire disaster area after officials previously warned and escorted him away from the vicinity, as reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Emergency responders and cadaver dogs are seen searching through burned cars and homes for human remains in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 18. At least 114 people died in the Aug. 8 fire, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire of the past century.
Emergency responders and cadaver dogs are seen searching through burned cars and homes for human remains in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 18. At least 114 people died in the Aug. 8 fire, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire of the past century.

USA TODAY has previously debunked various claims surrounding the Maui wildfires, including that more than 1,000 children were missing in the aftermath, that the fires were intentionally set to turn the island into a “15-minute city” and that a video of green lights in the sky prove they were caused by a directed energy weapon.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Composite photo misleads about Maui wildfire arrests | Fact check