Old Image of Man Waving Saffron Flag at US Capitol Viral As Recent
The flag was raised in August 2020 to celebrate the ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
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An old image of a man waving a saffron flag along with the flag of the United States of America outside the US Capitol in Washington DC has gone viral with the false claim that it’s from the recent ‘siege,’ when Trump supporters stormed the building.
The image could be traced back to August 2020, when few Indian-Americans had celebrated the ground-breaking occasion of Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir, at the Capitol Hill.
CLAIM
Several users shared the image with the claim that Hindutva supporters or ‘sanghis’ were at the US Capitol during the siege.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
A reverse image search led us to an article by Financial Express, dated 5 August 2020, carrying the viral image.
The article attributed the picture to news agency PTI, and stated that the Indian community celebrated the ground-breaking occasion of Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir, around the US Capitol Hill in Washington.
The image was also carried by the Economic Times.
We also found the image in the PTI archives, dated 4 August 2020, with the caption, “Indian community people take out a tableau on ‘Ayodhya's Shri Ram Mandir’ around the US Capitol Hill to celebrate the groundbreaking occasion of the temple, in Washington.”
While the viral image is old, an Indian tricolour flag was raised during the US Capitol insurrection by Indian-origin American, Vincent Xavier Palathingal.
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