False claims that Muslims burned five French churches during Oct. 17 protests spread with old and unrelated images

Claims circulating on social media that Muslims set fire to five churches in France during the Oct. 17 nationwide protests are false, according to a France 24 Observers investigation.

The fact-check found that several widely shared posts used old or unrelated images and videos to support the allegation.

One video shared by U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and presented as footage of a burning church was geolocated by France 24 to Lyon, where it actually showed a rubbish bin on fire outside an apartment building.

Another widely circulated video appeared to show Saint-Michel Church in Bordeaux burning. France 24 found that the footage was filmed in July and showed a fire at a nearby homeless encampment that did not spread to the church.

A separate image used in posts claiming five churches had been torched showed Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris, but the image dates from a fire at the church’s door in 2019.

Maxime Cumunel, vice president of France’s Observatory for Religious Heritage, told France 24 that no church fire linked to the Oct. 17 unrest had been attributed to Muslims.

The Observatory recorded only one church-related fire in the period around the protests, at Saint-Médard in Fenouillet near Toulouse. Local authorities said the cause of that fire had not been determined.

The false claims emerged after large protests across France on Oct. 17 were accompanied in several cities by clashes, looting and arson. Authorities have not linked Muslims or immigrants as a group to the violence.

The misinformation was part of a broader wave of misleading material that spread after the protests, including recycled footage, fabricated images and unsupported claims about religious and ethnic violence.