Fact check: Photo of police and protesters is from 2011 student demonstration

A social media user posted a 13-year-old photograph they claimed was taken on the day of the farming protest earlier this week.

A police officer watches a tractor during a protest by farmers in central London over the changes to inheritance tax (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)

A social media user posted a photo from picture agency Alamy of a crowd of police alongside the words: “Police turn out on a tuesday (sic) for the people that feed them, namely the farmers.”

Evaluation

The photo was taken during a student protest in November 2011, while the demonstration by famers against inheritance tax changes was held in London on Tuesday, November 19 2024.

The Facts

Performing a Google Lens reverse image search on the photograph leads to the website of PA Media’s stock imagery agency Alamy where the picture is captioned: “Huge police presence during students protest in central London UK, about cuts to public spending and increase in tuition fees”.

The image is dated as being taken on November 9 2011, which was a Wednesday.

Links

X post (archived)

Google Lens search

Alamy page (archived)