Fact check: Senator Ted Cruz posted a video of a burning police car. The voiceover said "this ... is ... not ... peaceful.

1. Summary of the results

The analyses confirm that Senator Ted Cruz did post a video of a burning police car with the voiceover "this ... is ... not ... peaceful" ^{[1] [2] [3]}. However, the video was not from recent events but from May 30, 2020, during the George Floyd protests in Los Angeles' Fairfax District ^{[3] [4]}.

Cruz's post was actually a comment on a video shared by actor James Woods, who used the outdated footage to counter claims that recent ICE protests were peaceful ^[2]. The post received a Community Note on social media for spreading misinformation ^[2], with multiple experts and officials calling out the false information ^[5].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original statement omits several crucial pieces of context:

• The video was five years old, not depicting current events as implied ^{[1] [3] [4]}
• Cruz was amplifying content from James Woods, not creating original content ^[2]
• The video was being used to deliberately mislead about the nature of recent ICE protests by showing unrelated historical footage ^[2]
• Social media platforms and fact-checkers actively flagged this as misinformation ^{[5] [2]}
• There were separate, unrelated incidents of police vehicles being set on fire in Brooklyn, which could create additional confusion about the timeline and location of events ^[6]

Politicians like Ted Cruz benefit from spreading such misleading content as it allows them to shape public perception about current protests without using accurate information, potentially mobilizing their political base through emotional manipulation.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original statement contains significant misinformation by omission. While technically accurate that Cruz posted a video of a burning police car with that voiceover, it fails to mention that:

• The footage was deliberately misleading and outdated ^{[1] [3] [4]}
• The post was flagged as misinformation by social media platforms ^{[5] [2]}
• The video was being used to falsely characterize recent protests ^[2]

This type of selective presentation allows the statement to appear factual while supporting a false narrative about current events. The omission of the video's actual date and context transforms what should be reported as misinformation into what appears to be legitimate political commentary, demonstrating how partial truths can be more dangerous than outright lies.