Debunked 2020 Video Goes Viral Again: Irish and US Accounts Spread False 'Migrant Attack' Claim

A video from a Portuguese train station in 2020 has resurfaced on X, garnering over 700,000 views in 24 hours with claims that it shows migrants attacking a white woman. Portuguese police confirmed the opposite: passengers were restraining a woman who had just assaulted a train conductor.

The Viral Claim

The video, posted by Dublin-based account @BrianGarrigan with the caption "White Privilege, Europe is finished unless we stand up now," shows a group of people surrounding a woman on a train platform. The post has accumulated over 705,000 views, 8,400 retweets, and 23,000 likes since being posted on January 26, 2026.

The video was quickly amplified by @LVNDRACE, a US-based account whose bio states "White Christian Nations are for the White race only. America First." That account described the footage as "A group of african black individuals attacked a White woman on the platform of a railway station in Europe" and called for "REMIGRATION NOW."

What Actually Happened

According to Polígrafo, Portugal's leading fact-checking organisation, and confirmation from Portuguese police (PSP), the incident occurred on April 30, 2020, at Mercês station on the Sintra line near Lisbon.

A woman who had been drinking alcohol and causing disturbances was approached by a female train conductor. When informed she would be identified by police at Mercês station, the intoxicated woman attacked the conductor with a slap to the face and smashed a wine bottle on her head.

The conductor was taken to hospital where she received four stitches. The attacker was handcuffed and arrested by PSP.

The people visible in the video were not attackers. They were passengers who intervened to help the train staff restrain the violent woman until police arrived. The video shows only the restraint, not the preceding assault on the conductor.

International Disinformation Network

The video first went viral in 2020 on a Serbian Facebook page called "STOP Naseljavanju migranata" (Stop settling migrants), which framed it as migrants attacking a white woman. That post reached 1.6 million views.

The same debunked video has now resurfaced, spreading through a network of accounts across Ireland, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The pattern reveals how anti-immigration disinformation circulates internationally:

• Irish accounts like @BrianGarrigan (33,000 followers, bio: "Mass Deportation save our Culture from Illegal immigrants") originate or amplify the content
• US-based white nationalist accounts like @LVNDRACE add explicitly racist framing
• Serbian nationalist pages originally created and misrepresented the footage

Replies to the posts have included dehumanising language and calls for violence, with accounts claiming the video shows "genocide" against white Europeans.

Why This Matters Now

The timing of this resurgence is notable. The video has reappeared amid heightened political debates about immigration in Ireland, where housing shortages and asylum seeker accommodation have become contentious issues.

Ireland has seen a rise in anti-immigration protests in recent months. Social media has played a significant role in organising these demonstrations, with some accounts accused of spreading misleading content about migrants.

The EU has identified disinformation about migration as a persistent challenge, with false narratives about crime and violence being particularly common. Such content often originates from accounts outside the EU before being amplified by domestic actors.

The Bigger Picture

This case illustrates a recurring pattern in online disinformation: real footage taken out of context and given a false narrative that aligns with specific political agendas. The facts are inverted—helpers become attackers, victims become perpetrators.

The same tactics have been documented in Russian propaganda efforts, where misleading framing and selective editing are used to support predetermined narratives.

For social media users, the lesson is clear: viral videos claiming to show migrant violence deserve scrutiny. A reverse image search, a check of fact-checking sites, or even basic questions about when and where footage was taken can often reveal manipulation.

The conductor who was attacked in Portugal deserves to have her story told accurately. She was the victim. The passengers who helped her were acting in solidarity with a fellow human being. The video shows the opposite of what those sharing it claim.