Fact-check: Pakistan defence minister’s claim that Brazil allows citizens to kill robbers is false
Defence minister tweets old videos to falsely claim that Brazilian law allows citizens to kill criminals.
Updated Tuesday May 02 2023
Pakistan's minister for defence has tweeted a video, alongside a claim that Brazilian law permits civilians to run over robbers in order to stop a crime.
The claim is false.
Claim
Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Pakistan’s defence minister, tweeted a video to his 2.4 million followers on April 25, purportedly showing various incidents of hit and run, where people in Brazil rammed their cars into criminals in order to stop an attempted robbery.
“The law in Brazil allows a person to run over robbers in order to stop a robbery,” he wrote in a tweet, accompanying the video.
The video, he shared, has amassed over 650,000 views and 10,000 likes, to date.
Fact
In reality, there is no indication that any such law has been enacted in Brazil. No major media organisation in Brazil, or an international news outlet, has reported the news.
Furthermore, the video tweeted by the defence minister is a compilation of crimes, which occurred at different times, sometimes in different countries, where citizens can be seen acting in self-defense. The incidents have no connection with any law passed by the Brazilian government.
The video, tweeted by the defence minister, is a montage of five different clips, a reverse image search revealed. The search engines used by Geo Fact Check included Yandex, TinEye and Google Images.
The first clip, which shows a car running over a thief, is from Ecuador. It was reported by the media organisation, Metro Ecuador, last May.
As per the news report, a woman ran over two suspected criminals as they tried to assault her.
The second video, in the montage, is from Brazil, recorded in November 2020.
As per g1, a Brazilian news portal, security cameras captured a car ramming into two criminals.
The third footage is from July 2021, recorded in the city of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
The incident was reported by ABCD Jornal, according to which a police officer was travelling in an Uber car when he came under attack by robbers. The officer shot back at the muggers.
The fourth footage is also from Sao Paulo, Brazil, recorded in October 2021.
As per g1, security cameras filmed a driver running over two robbers. A case of attempted robbery and collision was later registered by the police.
The fifth clip is again from Sao Paulo, reported by the Brazilian media organisation, Metropoles.
As per the news report, as robbers tried to steal at gunpoint from pedestrians, a family member of one pedestrian noticed the robbery and drove straight into the suspected criminals.
With additional reporting by Muhammad Binyameen Iqbal.
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