An image circulating on social media claims to show a newly-appointed police spokesperson in Uganda hitting a news reporter with a catapult for asking "irrelevant questions". The image, shared by several Twitter users, shows the cop with a catapult at what appears to be a press conference. Several microphones were seen placed in front of him as he prepared to release the spring of the catapult.
"Newly appointed Uganda police spokesman hits news reporter with a caterpult for asking irrelevant question [sic]," one Twitter user wrote while sharing the pic on the microblogging platform, where it has racked up over 25,000 'likes' and nearly 10,000 'retweets'.
Other Twitter users also shared the picture with similar claims over the weekend.
The truth behind this viral pic
So did a police spokesperson actually attack a journalist over an irrelevant question, or is this outlandish claim untrue? As it turns out, the claim is false. No police spokesperson in Uganda hit any journalist with a catapult.
The image is actually from last year, when cops recovered a consignment of dangerous catapults in Kampala, reports Uganda Radio Network. At the time, police spokesperson Fred Enanga had cautioned against the dangers of catapults in a press briefing.
The image is actually taken from that press briefing in 2021, and not from a recent press conference as claimed by a section of the internet.
This was confirmed by Uganda Police itself. When Kenyan advocate Ahmednasir Abdullahi tried to take a dig at Uganda Police by sharing the image with the false claim, the official Twitter handle of the police department was quick to label it as "fake news".
Mr Abdullahi deleted his tweet after being called out for sharing false information.
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