A video showing a man being detained by police in the United States is going viral on social media. Many users claim that the video shows a Hindu man — Bhuvesh Patel — was caught attempting to ignite a blowtorch in areas devastated by wildfires.
A Facebook user posted the video with a caption: “Pajeet, Bhuvesh Patel (Hindu) was caught trying to start a fire with torch blower for looting in areas devastated by fires📍 Woodland Hills, CA.”
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FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the claim, and found it to be false.
Putting the video keyframes through Reverse Image Search, the NM team found the original clip posted on Instagram, dated January 10, 2024. As per the original video, a man was stopped by the residents while attempting to ignite a blowtorch. However, there was no mention of his religion, name, or ethnicity in the original post.
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Also, we found a report by Newsweek, dated January 14, 2024, with a title: Will Sanctuary Law Stop ICE From Detaining LA Fire Person of Interest? According to the report, immigration officials confirmed that the man in the video was a Mexican national named Juan Manuel Sierra, who entered US illegally. He was suspected of attempting to start fires in Woodland Hills, near the Kenneth Fire, and was found in possession of a blowtorch.
Another report by Daily Mail further identified the suspect as Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva. He was caught on video walking with a yellow blowtorch before being confronted by residents in Calabasas, west of Beverly Hills.
Thus, it is confirmed that the video claiming to show a Hindu being detained for trying to ignite a blowtorch in the US is False.
