Last updated on August 23rd, 2026
Editor’s note
In late July 2026, a migrant border-crossing crisis erupted in Ceuta –Spain’s enclave on the North African coast, leaving at least 70 deaths and thousands stranded. Spain’s central government urgently deployed military forces, drones, and coast guard assets to reinforce border defenses. During this critical window of surging information demand and highly fragmented sources, two videos spread rapidly across platforms and languages: one allegedly showing “Spanish soldiers throwing pork at Muslim migrants,” and the other claiming “North African migrants attacking Ceuta police vehicles.” Our investigation confirms that neither video depicts real footage of the current event. The “throwing pork” video is an AI-generated satire piece; the “attacking police vehicle” video originates from old footage dated 2021. Such false videos centered on religious and immigration issues not only risk inflaming intergroup tensions but also undermine the public’s capacity for rational judgment on related matters and may even trigger social unrest—necessitating urgent clarification. This report provides a comprehensive deconstruction of the two videos through source tracing, technical detection, and dissemination pathway analysis.
Claim
On August 1, 2026, Facebook user @Timothy Wilcox posted a video showing several soldiers standing next to an armored vehicle bearing the text “BACON SQUAD” on its side, throwing pork products at a crowd. The video also featured the text “FAFO” and emojis overlaid on the footage. At the time of review, the video received approximately 46,000 views and over 5,000 interactions.
On August 10, 2026, X user @HJB_News__ posted a video showing a group of people vandalizing a police vehicle, with the caption “Moroccan Muslim men enjoying themselves in Ceuta.” At the time of review, the post had exceeded 540,000 views and over 20,000 interactions.
Fact check:
1. Video of Soldiers Throwing Pork at Crowds
(1) Source Trace Analysis
Based on user information visible in the video, the video posted by user @Timothy Wilcox was reposted from TikTok user @8141travis9. That user had already explicitly noted “Contains AI-generated media” when reposting, indicating the video’s AI-synthetic nature.
Reverse image search using keyframes from the video revealed that the earliest known publisher of this content is X account @DrClownPhD, who posted the video on July 30, 2026, with an X platform label reading “Made with AI.” The account subsequently stated in a follow-up post: “I made this video with Seedance 2.0 on Yapper!”—explicitly acknowledging its AI-generated origin. (Yapper is a content creation platform that allows users to generate video content using AI models.) During subsequent dissemination across social media platforms, the AI-generation label was cropped or removed, enabling the content to be reposted as if it depicted a “real event.”
(2) Visual Analysis
Frame-by-frame examination of the video revealed multiple visual anomalies:
1）Human torsos exhibit instantaneous disappearance, distorted hand regions, or fractured outlines during movement;
2）Facial features appear blurred and distorted;
3）Multiple individuals wear clothing that is highly uniform in color and texture;
4）After being thrown, the bacon strips float downward in a “ribbon” or “cloth-like” trajectory, inconsistent with the physical motion that actual meat slices would exhibit under gravity and air resistance.
(3) Detection Tool Analysis
The video was submitted to Hive Moderation AI and the Zhuque AI detection tool, which returned AI-generation confidence scores of 99.6% and 97.43%, respectively. The Hive Moderation AI report additionally noted that the content was likely generated by Seedance 2.0. The detection results corroborate the multiple anomalies identified in the visual analysis above.
(4) Account Analysis
The original publisher, @DrClownPhD, created their account in 2023 and currently has 345,500 followers. The account positions itself as a content creator, with a bio reading: “🎪 Join my circus and let’s laugh at the world’s current absurdities together!” The account specializes in producing AI-generated satirical videos.
(5) Dissemination Analysis
Based on comprehensive timing and dissemination data, the video’s spread exhibits the following three characteristics:
Dissemination timeline coincides with the actual migration crisis
The video’s dissemination peak occurred around July 30, 2026, closely overlapping with the large-scale Ceuta border-crossing event. Real-world footage of mass migration coincided with the event’s temporal context. The video’s content—involving pork and its relationship to Muslim communities—touches upon Islamic dietary prohibitions, further amplifying the topic’s sensitivity.
AI labels were stripped, enabling cross-platform and cross-language dissemination
When original publisher @DrClownPhD posted the video on X, the platform had automatically labeled it “Made with AI,” and the author also mentioned the creation tool in a same-day post. However, when accounts including @tangbaiqiao, @Timothy Wilcox, and @ainewsgrid reposted it, the AI label was cropped out. Within approximately 72 hours of the July 30 release, the video had spread from English-language platforms to multilingual social media, indicating that the content had detached from its original context and reached users across different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
Continuous generation of derivative content
Within 24 hours of the original video’s release, @DrClownPhD rolled out subsequent videos in the same series and continued producing derivative content on the same theme (e.g., “Bacon Squad lands in the UK,” etc.), exhibiting a pattern of serialized content production around a single topic. Among this series, three other videos beyond the one examined each exceeded one million views. Subsequently, users including @Dominic McCoid, @Deepak Kalappat, @EislerAndrzej, and @ForestFrost9 further disseminated these derivative contents across platforms.
2. Video of Crowds Vandalizing Police Vehicle
(1) Source Trace Analysis
Reverse Google image search using keyframes from the video revealed that the content closely matches a video posted by X account @vox_es on May 25, 2021. This account is the official account of the Spanish political party VOX. The accompanying caption at the time read: “Those who shout ‘Pedro Sánchez president’ and have tried to assault in Ceuta are now attempting to attack the Police.” The same day, YouTube channel ESdiario TV also posted the same video with an identical narrative.
(2) Visual Feature Comparison
Comparative analysis shows that the video circulated by X user @HJB_News__ is highly consistent with the video posted by @vox_es in terms of environment, subjects, and composition. Both segments display the same key visual elements:
1）A Spanish National Police van with a dark lower body featuring a checkered stripe pattern and the “091” designation visible on the side;
2）Light-colored cylindrical bollards along the street;
3）Multiple individuals running around, kicking, or throwing objects at the police vehicle.
The background of the video shows the signage of a GAES hearing aid store. Comparing this signage with Google Maps Street View confirms that the storefront layout in the video posted by @HJB_News__ matches the layout at the same location as seen in Google Maps Street View from September 2022, placing the scene on Paseo Alcalde Sánchez Prados in Ceuta.
In May 2021, approximately 8,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Subsequently, a public rally planned by VOX and led by Santiago Abascal was banned due to security risks, with the ban upheld by the courts. Abascal nonetheless visited and stayed at the Parador de Ceuta hotel. That evening, individuals gathered outside the hotel and attempted to force their way in, clashing with police. The hotel is located near the Paseo Alcalde Sánchez Prados section where the viral video was filmed.
Based on the above information, the viral video of “migrants attacking police vehicles” is old footage shot on May 25, 2021, on Paseo Alcalde Sánchez Prados in Ceuta, and is unrelated to the August 2026 Ceuta migration crisis.
(3) Account Analysis
X user @HJB_News__ registered on December 16, 2023, and currently has approximately 103,000 followers. Its bio claims 35 years of experience in media and data solutions and describes themselves as an “outspoken patriot,” but does not disclose any specific media organization to which they are affiliated, nor do they possess verifiable authoritative media credentials. Reviewing its post history shows that the account focuses heavily on illegal immigration and border control issues. Notably, the account has a prior history of spreading misinformation on immigration-related topics, which has been verified by Fact Hunter(see here)。
(4) Dissemination Analysis
Based on the dissemination map and cross-platform data, the reactivation of this old footage during the 2026 Ceuta crisis exhibits the following dissemination characteristics:
1) Dissemination timing coincides with the peak of Ceuta crisis public discourse
Verifiable social media posts featuring this video are concentrated between August 10 and August 12, 2026—a roughly 48-hour window. This period overlaps with the August 9 protests in Ceuta and subsequent public discourse, which received sustained coverage locally and throughout Spain. X user @HJB_News__ is the earliest traceable publisher within this investigation’s scope.
2) Cross-platform and cross-language dissemination pattern
Among the 18 posts sampled in this investigation, the majority republished the video under the theme of “illegal North African migrants attacking police vehicles in Ceuta.” Within this investigation’s scope, the video was first traceable to X, subsequently spreading to Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook via accounts including @thefusisworld, @Dominic McCoid, and @THE REVOLUTION. Among these, @visegrad24, @pradhyu78651514, @coolnotesix, and @unbiasednewsuk used nearly identical English captions, while @Granite77777 translated them into Chinese, demonstrating cross-platform, cross-language dissemination.
3) Participating accounts have large follower bases
The accounts involved in this dissemination have substantial followings: @visegrad24 (approximately 2 million), @VictorKvert2008 (approximately 1 million), and @coolnotesix (approximately 1 million)—these three accounts alone total over 4 million followers. The potential reach of even a single post from these accounts is broad, carrying a high risk of spreading misinformation.
Background
Ceuta is a peninsula of about 19 square kilometers on Morocco’s northern coast, bordering the Mediterranean Sea and facing mainland Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar. Its geographic location makes it a key transit point for illegal migration from Africa into Europe. Melilla, located 400 kilometers east of Ceuta, is another Spanish enclave in Africa; together, the two constitute the only land borders between Europe and Africa.
From late July to early August 2026, Ceuta experienced a new wave of large-scale migrant border-crossing incidents. Within a short period, tens of thousands of people entered a city with a population of just over 80,000. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez characterized the incident as an “attack on Spain’s territorial integrity” and attributed it to human trafficking networks’ “deliberate misinterpretation” of a Supreme Court ruling. The Spanish government subsequently stated that it had implemented measures including maritime interception facilities and reinforced coastal patrols to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
Ceuta has experienced large-scale migration influxes before. In mid-May 2021, thousands to tens of thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, triggering a severe border crisis—during which clashes with police occurred, providing the original footage for the “vandalizing police vehicle” video examined in this report. A legal backdrop to the 2026 crisis was a ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court stipulating that for migrants intercepted at sea who attempted to enter Ceuta or Melilla without crossing any physical border barriers, the “rechazo en frontera” (border rejection) procedure under the Aliens Act does not apply; instead, ordinary repatriation procedures must be followed.
Verdict
- Video of soldiers throwing pork at crowds: AI-generated
- Video of crowds vandalizing police vehicles: Out of context
Conclusion
Our investigation confirms that both viral videos concerning the Ceuta crisis are disinformation and do not depict real footage of the current event.
The “throwing pork” video is AI-generated content, originally published by X user @DrClownPhD on July 30, 2026, with a “Made with AI” label on the original post. During subsequent dissemination, this label was cropped out, and the video was widely spread against the backdrop of the Ceuta migration crisis.
The “attacking police vehicles” video documents conflict that occurred during the May 2021 Ceuta crisis, filmed in 2021, and is unrelated to the 2026 event. During the 2026 Ceuta migration crisis, this old footage was repackaged and redistributed by certain accounts as “real-time news.”
Both videos were stripped of their original contexts during dissemination. Such content gained significant attention during a period of surging information demand triggered by the crisis event, spreading across platforms and languages.
During major emergencies, audiences should exercise caution toward social media content labeled “breaking” that closely aligns with the event’s context. It is imperative to first cross-verify through multiple sources and employ reverse image searches and other tracing methods to confirm the source and timing of such content, avoiding the inadvertent sharing of unverified material during information chaos.
Have a questionable video or claim? Submit it to Fact Hunter’s investigation team at [therealfacthunter@outlook.com].
Primary Fact Checker: Lei Ting
Secondary Fact Checker: Wu Yixuan
References
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