Was Greta Thunberg's Detention By German Police Staged? A Fact Check

Social media is rife with videos showing Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg being held by German police as photographers come and take pictures, with the claim that it shows her recent detention by the German police being staged as a publicity stunt.

BOOM found this claim to be false; the German police denied these claims and told Reuters that Thunberg was detained, and not arrested, and was eventually released after an identity check.

A spokesperson for the interior ministry of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Thunberg was detained, told the BBC that the police "had to wait for a couple of minutes" for logistical reasons, "before they could bring her to a certain police car".

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Last Tuesday, Thunberg and other climate activists were protesting in the abandoned hamlet of Lützerath in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia against the demolition of the village for the expansion of a coal mine.

Thunberg and the other activists were then removed from the spot by the police and detained for identity check.

She later took to Twitter and said, and mentioned that she and the other activists were kettled (a police crowd control tactic that involves surround a crowd and containing them at a certain location) and detained by the police, and then let off later in the evening.

False Posts Claiming Staged Detention

By Thursday, footage of her detention went viral with the false claims. One user wrote, "The fake arrest of #GretaThunberg. You only see what they want you to see. All set up for the cameras. This should give her good publicity."

You can view some of the posts here, here, here, here and here.

The same video was also widely shared on Twitter with the false claims of staged detention.