WHAT WAS CLAIMED
A video news report shows the mother of a teen arsonist is suing a salon for damages.
OUR VERDICT
False. The post used reports from arson incidents in Australia.
AAP FACTCHECK - A TV news report about a woman suing a barber shop after her son was injured attempting to set it on fire is fake, despite claims online.
The video splices numerous clips together to create a bogus news clip, including footage from Australian arson attacks, and there are no reputable reports of such a lawsuit.
A Facebook post features the video of the supposed mother's court testimony, alongside surveillance footage of masked arsonists setting fire to several hair salons.
"A 17-vear-old teen tried to set a salon on fire but ended up getting burned,and his mother is suing the salon for $2 million [sic]," the caption reads.
A voice-over claims a teenager named 'Khalil Brown' was severely injured when attempting to set the property on fire after getting a haircut he was displeased with.
AAP FactCheck was unable to find any credible reports of the lawsuit or arson attack.
An image of the teenager in the Facebook video is actually Robert Allen, one of the men charged with killing American rap artist XXXTentacion in 2018.
A reverse image search reveals that the surveillance footage shows three separate arson incidents in Australia.
A clip at the start showing a man on fire in orange workwear was taken from an incident at a salon in Burwood, in Sydney's Inner West, as reported by The Age.
Another clip showing a person wearing a motorcycle helmet spreading accelerant in a salon (timestamp seven seconds) is CCTV footage from a Canberra barber shop where an arsonist accidentally set himself on fire, according to an ABC report.
A third clip showing a police officer speaking (timestamp 30 seconds) is from a 7NEWS report about an arson attack at a barber shop in Merrylands, in Western Sydney (41 seconds).
Similar posts feature the same clips but with different people's head shots, also claiming they show the accused teen arsonist.
One Facebook post includes the image of a US mother who was sentenced to 25 years for child abuse, according to a Washington Post report.
Likewise, an X post that includes an image supposedly showing the teen accused of arson is actually of a British teen who was charged with four counts of rape, according to London's Evening Standard.
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