HOUSTON — A video viewed more than 25,000 times on YouTube shows a crowd smashing out windows and vandalizing property in Houston.
People on blogs and social media claim it was recorded at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Viewers emailed the link to the KHOU 11 Verify team asking if the hospital was really vandalized.
To verify this question, we used Texas Children’s Hospital as our source.
A spokesperson sent the following statement:
“The location in this video is not Texas Children’s Hospital. We have not experienced any damage to our hospital as a result of the protests against the death of George Floyd and the injustices our communities of color continue to experience. Texas Children’s was founded to serve all children — regardless of their race, religion, creed or ability to pay. These are the principles that guide us each and every day.”
It didn’t take long to figure out the video was recorded at the corner of Walker and Austin streets in downtown Houston — not the medical center.
Houston Police made more than 600 arrests last week in connection with demonstrations in the downtown area.
The department posted a statement on Twitter Tuesday, saying, “This is an extremely low number of arrests considering the thousands of people in our community who marched and demonstrated peacefully today.”
Although there is a lot we don’t know about the video, we do know it did not take place at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Therefore, KHOU 11 can verify claims the hospital was under siege by rioters are false.