Children excluded from a Christmas market? A Santa Claus without a mask arrested? Watch out for this poison

Published on : 12/17/2021 – 5:49 PM

A photo posted on Twitter by a German-speaking account on December 6, without caption, shows children separated from a person disguised as Santa Claus by a fence.

The picture was also posted on Twitter on December 12, with a caption in English claiming that these were children prevented from joining a Christmas market in Germany because they would not be vaccinated.

As reported by the German fact-checking media Correctiv, by carrying out a search by inverted images (see here how to proceed), we find this report of the Romanian news site Express de Banat which refers to the Facebook account that published the image December 8.

The post says the photo was taken in Freedom Square in Timișoara, a city in western Romania.

According to local media, only people with a health pass could access the Christmas market on the Place de la Liberté.

However, the children in the photo are under 12 years old. However, in Romania, children under six do not need a health pass, as we can read in English on the website of the United States Embassy in Romania. Children between 6 and 12 years old must test negative, not be vaccinated, to participate in certain events. Corn according to the website of the Timisoara City Council, children between 6 and 12 years old are not required to take this test.

In Germany, children usually have access to Christmas markets and do not need to be vaccinated. For example, at the Berlin Christmas market, young people under the age of 18 must present a test certificate, but children under 6 do not need to be tested.

In France, you need a health pass to enter the Christmas markets, corn this is not required for children under 12 years old.

The “Santa Claus” was not arrested for not wearing the mask

A second video shows a man dressed as Santa Claus being arrested by police on a street in the evening. “The German police arrest Santa Claus manu militari in the middle of the street because he does not wear a mask”, we can read in this tweet from Florian Philippot, former member of the Rassemblement national en France.

In reality, the video is decontextualized.

By performing a reverse image search, we find this video on a little-known German-speaking opinion blog, in better quality, and which refers to the arrest of a “Santa Claus” in Stralsund, a town in northeastern Germany.

In the video, the police can be heard asking the man dressed as Santa Claus: “Identify yourself! You are walking around without a mask”, and the man responding: “Why wear one? I am Santa Claus”. The police repeat: “Show your identity card!”.

We also see, at 0’25, that the disguised man is carrying a partially visible sign indicating “2G”, a reference to sanitary restrictions in Germany.

In a December 14 statement, the Stralsund Police Department claimed the man dressed as Santa Claus was among 65 people who gathered for an undeclared meeting in the town’s market square to protest against COVID-19 measures. “He was not participating as Santa Claus in the Christmas market,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the police asked for the coordinates of the participants, because according to local law, an “undeclared meeting constitutes a criminal offense”. The man in disguise refused to give his identity, as seen in the video, and was arrested.

Police added that the man was suspected of previous offenses linked to protests against sanitary measures.

Several local media confirmed that the scene took place in Stralsund, Germany, and that the man was taken into custody because he refused to give his identity papers.

Police added that the man was suspected of previous offenses linked to protests against sanitary measures.

Several local media confirmed that the scene took place in Stralsund, Germany, and that the man was taken into custody because he refused to give his identity papers.