Image of paraglider installation at Columbia encampment is altered | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read

The claim: Image shows a paraglider installation at Columbia University protest

An April 17 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes an image showing Columbia University's anti-war encampment with two red and yellow paragliders in the background.

“Columbia University free Palestine mob used decorations of paragliders in their camp out protest on campus,” reads the start of the post. "This is because Hamas terrorists used paragliders on Oct 7 to attack the Nova music festival where they committed mass murder and rape of civilians, in addition to kidnapping."

Other versions of the claim were shared on Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: Altered

The image is fabricated. Photos of the same scene published by legitimate news outlets do not show the supposed paraglider installation, nor is there any reporting on the supposed display. The figures shown in the image match Apple’s parachute emoji.

Paragliders seen during Oct. 7 attack, but not at Columbia protest

The figures in the image are a supposed reference to the paragliders that Hamas used in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that led to the war that has killed thousands and sparked protests at universities across the country.

But no paraglider installation can be seen in images of the same encampment scene published by outlets including the Columbia student-run campus news site Bwog and the New York Sun. There are no reports of any such display from legitimate outlets.

The paragliding figures in the image match Apple's parachute emoji, suggesting they were superimposed onto the original image.

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USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims surrounding the Columbia University protest, including false assertions that a video shows pro-Palestinian rallies held in response to student suspensions, that the university canceled all in-person classes through the end of the semester because of the protests and that an image shows protesters blocking Jewish people from entering the university in April 2024.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Lead Stories, Reuters and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Image of paraglider display at Columbia camp is altered | Fact check