Video of mother tearing Pride Flag from classroom wall is staged | Fact check

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
2

The claim: Video shows a mom tearing down a pride flag in a classroom

A Sept. 18 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes a video that appears to show a mother coming into a classroom, tearing a Pride Flag off a wall and throwing it in the trash.

"Brave Mom tears down certain flag at her son’s school in history class," reads the post's caption, which includes the hashtags #letskidsbekids, #education and #indoctrination.

The post was liked more than 9,000 times in a week.

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Our rating: False

The video shows a staged skit with actors, not a real incident. The original version of the video ends with a disclaimer about it being a skit.

Video creator said he wanted to ‘start discussion’

The original, complete version of the video was posted on Facebook on Sept. 16 by the comedian Jibrizy.

At the end of the video, he says, "Hey guys. This was all a skit. What was your opinion in the situation where the mother came down and took down the flag saying that her tax dollars isn't (sic) here to support this particular thing in school?”

Notably, this disclaimer has been cut out of the version shared on Instagram, giving the impression the encounter is real.

Jibrizy's bio on his verified Facebook page reads, "I'm a director making conversational topic videos that feel real."

The comedian emphasized that the video was staged in a Sept. 17 post to X, formerly Twitter.

“I create video to start discussion (sic),” he wrote. “It’s openly fake. But I want you to debate your point of view.”

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Jibrizy’s Facebook page has other videos with the same actors from the classroom sketch. One of those, depicting an airline passenger arguing over pronoun usage with a flight attendant, was similarly edited and circulated as authentic, as USA TODAY previously reported.

Edited clips of the classroom skit without the disclaimer were circulated on social media by figures including Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former NBC and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. Taylor Greene later posted to X stating the video could be a skit.

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

Reuters, Lead Stories and the Associated Press also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video of Pride Flag removal by parent is a skit | Fact check