Unrelated clip of attack on journalist in U.S. linked to unrest in Bangladesh

What is the claim?

A video circulating online shows a journalist being assaulted on the street by masked individuals during a live broadcast. The video has been shared with claims that it depicts an attack on media personnel amid the current unrest in Bangladesh.

On X (formerly Twitter), a user wrote, "Those liberal journalists of India celebrating the situation in Bangladesh should be ashamed! Especially people like Ravish Kumar. Look at the brutal treatment meted out to media personnel in Bangladesh. How can you celebrate after seeing this? (Translated from Hindi)." Archived versions of these posts can be found here and here. 

Screenshots of social media posts sharing the viral video. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, our investigation revealed that the video dates back to 2020 and shows an incident in New York where a Bangladeshi journalist was covering a protest against the murder of George Floyd.

What did we find?

The video features a Somoy TV logo in the bottom right corner. We conducted a Google search and found a YouTube video report (archived here) by Somoy TV from June 2, 2020. The report includes the viral clip and an interview with Hasanuzzaman Saki, the reporter who was assaulted. At the time, Saki was a correspondent for Somoy TV.

According to the report, Saki was attacked in Times Square while covering a protest against police brutality following Floyd's murder in Minneapolis. On May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, an incident captured on cellphone video. The footage went viral and ignited numerous Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. Chauvin was later convicted for Floyd’s death.

Saki told Somoy TV, “When we learned that a curfew was imposed in New York from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. because of the protests, my colleague and I arrived in Times Square about 20 minutes before 11.” He added, “While we were reporting and I was giving the PTC (piece to camera), some protesters attacked me (Translated from Bangla)."

Saki said the protesters continued to beat him despite his identification as a reporter. “They hit me one after another until I fell on the street. They tried to take the Somoy TV camera but failed. A reporter from iTV, Mohammad Shahidullah, was with me and was attacked after I was,” he said. Saki also shared this interview on Facebook (archived here) on June 3, 2020, detailing the incident.

Screenshots of the viral video and Saki's Somoy TV interview were featured in a report by the Bangladesh-based news organization The Business Standard, which confirmed that the incident occurred on June 1, 2020.

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which monitors press freedom violations in the United States, reported on the attack on Saki and linked to the same Somoy TV video featuring the viral clip. The report stated the attack occurred in Times Square around 11 p.m. and noted that the attackers' identities and motivations were unclear. Somoy TV and Saki did not respond to requests for comment, and the New York Police Department had not immediately responded to inquiries about the incident.

Logically Facts has contacted the journalist, Hasanuzzaman Saki, for further details, and this fact-check will be updated if and when we receive a response. 

What is happening in Bangladesh?

After weeks of student protests starting in late June against a controversial job quota policy, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled Bangladesh on August 5, 2024. According to news agency PTI, the death toll in the anti-government protests reached 440 as of August 6, 2024.

Protest leaders in Bangladesh announced that they anticipate the members of an interim government, which will be led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, to be confirmed by August 7. 

Meanwhile, Hasina is currently in India. Reports quoting her son and former adviser, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, indicate that she will remain in Delhi for “some more time."

The verdict

The viral video from June 2020 shows a Bangladeshi reporter being assaulted in New York while covering a protest against George Floyd's murder. It is unrelated to the current unrest in Bangladesh.