Old video of flash mob robbery shared as looting after California earthquake

The viral video is old; it shows a flash mob robbery happened at Nordstrom in Los Angeles in August 2023.

A large, 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Humboldt County in Northern California last week prompting a tsunami warning for part of the North Coast. The warning was later canceled.

In this context, a viral video shows a group of people ransacking a department store is going viral on social media with a claim such as, “People have started looting their local retail stores after recent evacuations in California take place due to the Tsunami warnings”

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Fact check

Our investigation began with a reverse image search of key frames from the viral video, which led us to a LA Times report featuring the same video. stating that the video is from August 2023 and depicts a flash mob robbery in Los Angeles.

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Moving forward, we came across the same video on FOX 26 news channel also. It was uploaded on 15 August 2023 with a caption, “LA-area stores targeted by smash-and-grab robberies”.

 The description part states, “A series of smash-and-grab flash-mob robberies are plaguing Southern California. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise have been plundered during these daytime raids”.

This indicates that this video predates the earthquake and is unrelated to recent events.

We also came across a CBS report from 14 August 2023, the report mentions that the incident occurred on 12 August, 2023. According to police, a group of 20 to 30 individuals stole bags, clothes, shoes, and other items valued at nearly $300,000. 

Another report states, a group of at least 50 thieves conducted a bold smash-and-grab robbery at a Nordstrom department store in Los Angeles. They managed to escape with approximately $100,000 worth of merchandise in the daring robbery. The wild gang of criminals, clad in hoodies and masks, also used bear spray to assault the security guards.

Taking account of all these evidences we can clearly understand that the video was old and not related to the recent events in California.

Conclusion-

Fact Crescendo found that the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. The viral video is old; it shows a flash mob robbery happened at Nordstrom in Los Angeles in August 2023.