No, this airport hammer attack did not happen in Dublin

The context

Users on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook have circulated a video showing a man damaging an airport check-in counter and computer screens with a hammer. One user's caption read, "Dublin airport, more illegal scammers in Ireland," while another on Facebook claimed, "Cultural enrichment at Dublin Airport today." 

However, this incident did not take place in Dublin, Ireland, but in Santiago, Chile.

What we found

The footage circulating on social media, showing a man destroying an airport counter with a hammer, is actually reused eyewitness video from an incident that took place on August 27 at the Nuevo Pudahuel Airport in Santiago, Chile. Chilean news outlets extensively covered the incident, identifying the man as Emmanuel Bony, a Haitian citizen who had been a resident of Chile for six years.

According to the news platform Cooperativa, Bony, who claimed to work in construction, was planning to travel to Haiti via Miami. Upon arriving at the American Airlines counter, he was informed that the flight he had booked, AA812, did not exist and that there was no reservation in his name. Moreover, he did not have a visa, which led to his being denied boarding. In response, Bony used a hammer he had with him to damage the airport check-in desks, breaking five computers and six television screens.

Following the incident, Emol reported that Bony was arrested for causing minor damage, which was valued at around 20 million pesos. Meanwhile, the official Dublin Airport account debunked the misinformation, posting on X on August 28, "Fake news: this did not occur at Dublin Airport."

The rhetoric in the social media posts, which take the video out of context, contributes to growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Ireland. Logically Facts has previously covered how misinformation has fueled anti-immigrant protests in the country.

The verdict

The original footage is from an incident that occurred in Santiago, Chile, not Dublin, Ireland. The incident has no connection to Dublin Airport or Ireland. Therefore, we have marked the claim as misleading.