A group from the London Fatwa Council came to the police cordon near the London Bridge terror attacks with banners proclaiming 'ISIS will lose' yesterday afternoon.
But a video which emerged of the group apparently being positioned by TV reporters led to claims online that the channel was 'creating a narrative'. The video has since been shared more than 14,000 times on the social network and liked more than 16,000 times.
In a video uploaded by user @markantro on Monday, CNN anchor Becky Anderson can be seen standing to one side while police and TV producers assist a group of Muslim women assemble a makeshift memorial featuring flowers and protest signs.
“Look at all the people around me here, behind me here, sad about last night but hopeful for tomorrow,” Anderson says in the news clip.
CNN caught staging news!
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 4, 2017
They even brought "peace group" printed out papers and props.
Video courtesy of @markantro pic.twitter.com/jkxf3nb2W9
WATCH. @CNN scripting a narrative. Right before your eyes. pic.twitter.com/rdRbQzbqgy
— Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) June 4, 2017
“On the left here, Londoners came to help hurt, behind me you can see a sign here, hashtag ‘turn to love’, hashtag ‘for London’, hashtag ‘ISIS will lose’, and flowers left in remembrance of those who left their lives.”
The original uploader described it as “#fakenews”. “CNN creating the narrative,” he tweeted. “Note the white police officers leaving before the CNN shot & the Asian officers coming in. They then left after they went off air! Amazing thing is, I was getting called a ‘weekend warrior’ by several journalist [crews] while filming this.”
My message to the #LondonBridge attackers: You are a handful of twisted fools hell-bent on taking lives https://t.co/0v17H67El1
— Becky Anderson (@BeckyCNN) June 4, 2017
This is nonsense. Police let demonstrators through the cordon to show their signs. CNN along with other media simply filmed them doing so.
— CNN International PR (@CNNPRUK) June 5, 2017
CNN has denied staging a crowd of protesters for a news shot in the wake of the London Bridge attacks, after conservative Twitter users accused the broadcaster of manufacturing “fake news”.
Far-right twitterers are misleading folks about this video. Bloggers saying CNN was caught "staging fake news" (1/2) https://t.co/lvz6xznj18
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 5, 2017