A video showing a convoy of trucks has been widely miscaptioned in social media posts that have described it as showing truck drivers from South Carolina heading to join a protest convoy in Canada.
The video was in fact filmed in August 2021 and shows a convoy held in support of the South Carolina Special Olympics.
The video (an example here ) is circulating with descriptions linking it a protest over COVID-19 vaccine mandates by truck drivers in Canada, described as 'Freedom Convoy 2022' ( here ).
One tweet sharing the incorrectly captioned video reads, “Freedom Convoy heading from South Carolina up to Ottawa to stand with us Canadians in ending Mandates!”
The video being shared includes a visible TikTok user handle, which apparently belongs to the head of North Carolina firm Bottomley Enterprises, Mitchell Bottomley. The video was posted on the TikTok account on Jan. 22, without a caption ( vm.tiktok.com/TTPdhA9YwQ/ ). Reuters could not locate any earlier copies of the video.
In a phone interview, Michele Bryant, Vice President of Compliance for Bottomley Enterprises, told Reuters that the video was from an August 2021 trucker convoy. “The video had nothing to do with convoys headed to Canada,” she said.
According to Bryant, Bottomley, a new TikTok user, had recently shared several videos from summer events. “There is lots of stuff being posted, but that doesn’t mean it is happening right now,” said Bryant.
Bottomley Enterprises ( here ) said they participated in the August 28, 2021 convoy ( so-sc.org/event/truck-convoy/ ) event the “South Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.”
VERDICT
False. The video mislabeled as a South Carolina convoy joining the Canadian trucker protest was in fact filmed at a charity convoy in August 2021, according to a representative of the company owner who initially shared the video.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.