Fact check: Man defending businesses in Dallas was not killed by rioters

The claim: Rioters killed store owner in Dallas

For about two weeks, protests have taken place across all 50 states – and internationally – to condemn police brutality and demand institutional change within the American policing system.

The protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old Black man who died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who placed his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes; Floyd was unresponsive for nearly three minutes of that time. Three other officers stood to the side and did not intervene when Floyd repeatedly said, "I can't breathe."

Minnesota's attorney general has elevated charges against Chauvin to second-degree murder and charged the three other officers with aiding and abetting murder.

While the majority of protesters have been peaceful, some demonstrations have turned violent, resulting in the looting of stores and burning of buildings.

One protest video, originally posted on May 30, shows a group of people attacking a man in the streets of Dallas. He is beaten to the ground; the video ends before viewers can see if the man is responsive.

Many viewers posted that the man in the video was killed, and that claim was shared thousands of times.

One Facebook post, which shared an image of the video originally posted on Twitter, claimed, "A mob of rioters just murdered a man in cold blood in Dallas. He was defending his store."

What actually happened in Dallas?

The incident took place during the second day of protests in Dallas, which started peacefully.

Elijah Schaffer, a conservative video blogger, captured the violent encounter between the man and the crowd. The post ultimately made its way to other social media platforms, racking up millions of views.

President Donald Trump referenced the incident in an address, saying, "Innocent people have been savagely beaten, like the young man in Dallas, Texas, who was left dying on the street."

Schaffer shared more of his observations of the encounter in an appearance on BlazeTV, where he said the victim of the attack "made a decision that might have cost him his life" after he attempted to protect the store.

It is unknown whether the man was protecting a particular store or if he was "protecting his neighborhood" as reported by the Dallas Morning News.

A protester also recorded the incident and posted it to Instagram. He claimed Schaffer's video on Twitter is "not the full truth" and is an attempt to turn the narrative against protesters.

The footage shows more of the incident than Schaffer's video did. The video shows the crowd pelting the man with various objects as he walks away from them. He's carrying a machete and, after a few seconds, he turns and runs at an unarmed protester. The group surrounds and beats him. Schaffer later posted a longer video that showed the man running toward protesters, however neither video captured the full confrontation.

According to Dallas Police Department spokeswoman Officer Tamika Dameron, witnesses reported that the man came to the protests "wielding a large knife/machete at protesters."

Dameron said an unknown protester attempted to fight off the individual and was cut in the hand but was able to disarm the man. A group of protesters then beat and kicked him until he appeared to be unresponsive on the ground.

The identity of the man in the video has not been released publicly but Dameron confirmed on June 4 that he "was taken to the hospital and was last reported to be in stable condition." Police have not provided an update of his condition.

Our rating: False

The claim in the post has been rated FALSE. The man seen in the video was wielding a machete at protesters in order to "protect his neighborhood" but it is unknown whether he was defending a particular store. Additionally, he was not killed in the altercation and was last reported to be in stable condition.

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