Claim: A video shows a Muslim refugee stabbing a citizen in England with a sword, shedding light on the impact of immigration in Western or European countries.
Fact: The clip does not show Muslim refugees but two white men — Johnny Reid and David Jowett — engaged in a fight. The video is from May 2021 after which both were arrested and charged by Morecambe Area Police and sentenced in April 2022.
On 18 June 2024, Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, an anti-Islam activist who has participated in Quran-burning events in Sweden, posted a video showing two men apparently fighting with swords, along with a claim that pushes an anti-immigration stance. The clip, which has now been deleted but archived here, is accompanied by the following caption:
“In #England, a Muslim refugee stabs a citizen with a sword, and the battle turns into swords. The chaos and crimes of Muslim refugees will not end except with the people’s revolution. Are you satisfied with your streets being filled with Islamic criminals?”
Who is Salwan Momika?
Momika is known for carrying out a series (archive) of Quran burnings, causing anger and riots in multiple Muslim-majority countries for his actions, as well as attaining worldwide publicity. The Iraqi refugee sought asylum in Sweden where his temporary residence permit expired on 16 April.
Before his temporary permit expired, however, he decided (archive) to apply for asylum in neighbouring Norway, where he was arrested on arrival, jailed (archive) at the police immigration detention centre in Trandum, as per an Oslo court order, and deported (archive) later.
On 11 April, he was returned to Sweden, where he is under investigation “for incitement against ethnic groups”, according to The Associated Press.
During his detention, viral social media posts claimed — and celebrated — that his dead body was found in Norway. That, however, turned out to be false after we investigated the rumours.
Investigations into Momika’s past by France 24’s The Observers (archive) and Arab News (archive) have revealed his mysterious life, which is “full of contradictions”. According to the reports, he was a part of the Imam Ali Brigades, an Iraqi militia “accused of war crimes”, a Christian militia, and the Swedish Democrats, an ultra-nationalist party.
He has also had ties with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), “a group of militias that have been integrated into the Iraq army since 2016 with the aim of fighting against the Islamic State group organisation”, or Daesh, but has denied having links with the group, according to The Observers.
Swedish authorities have also confirmed that he once “threatened to kill a man while holding a knife” and was consequently punished, the publication added.
In the past, Momika has “praised” Muqtada Al-Sadr, an Iraqi cleric and politician who founded the Sadrist movement, but also announced his intention “to file a lawsuit” against him in another instance, according to Arab News. The publication also revealed that Momika founded the Syriac Democratic Union party and the Hawks Syriac Forces, which is “an armed militia established in 2014 that was affiliated with the pseudo-Christian militia Babylon Brigades”.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search using keyframes from the viral video and found that it surfaced as early as 2021.
Multiple British media outlets — including the Daily Mail’s website, MailOnline, The Daily Mirror, The Sun, and Metro — published reports about the “horrific footage” that depicts “two men attacking each other with machetes on a residential street in Lancashire” that led to police action.
One of them was “severely bloodied” during the fight that started “with the men trading insults”, The Daily Mirror wrote, adding that the clip shows them “swing wildly at each other with blades measuring about 18ins in length as witnesses urge them to put the weapons down and others encourage them”.
The media reports also included blurred images of the bloodied men.
MailOnline quoted Lancashire Police as saying both men, aged 31 and 26 at the time, were “arrested on suspicion of assault”.
According to Lancaster Guardian, the incident took place at “Bartholomew Road at around 3.15pm on Sunday, May 9 [2021]”, with one man arrested after a search was carried out and the second detained “in the Preston area”.
Soch Fact Check also found a 9 May 2021 statement by Morecambe Area Police on its Facebook page, which states:
“Sgt James Pinder, of Lancashire Police said: ‘We have launched an investigation following a serious assault involving two men. The incident has been recorded and uploaded to social media. For evidential purposes, I would urge people not to share it further at this time. Two men have been arrested by police in connection with the incident, but we know more people were in the area at the time of the offence and I would encourage witnesses to contact us. I realise this will have caused concern in Morecambe but incidents of this nature are rare and we want to reassure residents patrols have been increased in the area. If you have any information which could assist our enquiries or you witnessed the incident please come forward.”
The two men were charged two days later, according to an 11 May 2021 statement issued by Morecambe Area Police that said, “Johnny Reid, 31, of Bartholomew Road, Morecambe and David Jowett, 26, of Lynden Avenue, Morecambe have both been charged with affray and threats with a bladed article.”
A 13 April 2022 report by Lancashire Telegraph followed up on the story, stating that Reid and Jowett “received custodial prison sentences”.
“[Johnny] Reid, 32, of Bartholomew Road, Morecambe, was jailed for two years after he was convicted of wounding and threatening with a bladed article following a trial. [David] Jowett, 27, of Lynden Avenue, Morecambe, admitted wounding and threatening with a bladed article and was jailed for 25 months,” the publication wrote.
It quoted Police Sergeant Adie Knowles as saying, “This incident caused considerable concern in the local area and I hope that the custodial sentences handed down this week will reassure people that we have taken this incident seriously and secure justice.”
The same was corroborated in a 13 April 2022 statement by Morecambe Area Police.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that neither of the two men in the viral video posted by Salwan Momika were Muslim immigrants.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that the video was posted here, here, here, here, and here on X, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook, and here on video-sharing site BitChute.
On 24 June 2024, Hindi-language news website The Media Warrior also published a report on the false claim, with the headline, “England Viral Video: इंग्लैंड में दिनदहाड़े चाकुओं से लड़ रहे मुस्लिम और ब्रिटिश नागरिक! घटना का वीडियो वायरल [England Viral Video: Muslims and British citizens fighting with knives in broad daylight in England! Video of the incident goes viral].”
Conclusion: The clip does not show Muslim refugees but two white men — Johnny Reid and David Jowett — engaged in a fight. The video is from May 2021 after which both were arrested and charged by Morecambe Area Police and sentenced in April 2022.
Background image in cover photo: Maxim Hopman
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