FACT CHECK: Singer's murder in Ecuador passed off as assassination of Saudi Colonel
By Newsmeter Network Published on 19 Oct 2020 4:18 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A CCTV footage showing two men firing at a man in a restaurant is viral on social media. Users claim that a Colonel from Saudi Arabia, who was involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, was shot at.
"Today, shootout of colonel from Saudi Arabia who was involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in #Saudi Consulate in #Turkey (sic)," reads the claim.
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Fact Check:
Newsmeter performed a reverse image search and found a tweet by 'El Universo', one of the largest daily newspapers in Ecuador, South America. The tweet upon translation reads, "They assassinated a singer of Average 20 in the suburb of Guayaquil".
We also found an article by 'El Universo' that discusses this incident. It reads, "A video circulating on social networks shows the moment when two men approach Lino and fire at least 15 shots".
The man shot in the viral video has been identified as Jorge Fernando Lino Macas who was a former policeman and singer. He was shot dead in Santiago de Guayaquil, Ecuador. This incident was filmed at an unnamed seafood restaurant in Guayaquil.
Another tweet by 'Revista Vistazo', an Ecuadorian news website, also confirmed the incident. It reads, "Jorge Fernando Lino Macas, a former policeman and singer, nicknamed 'Vanilla', was killed with at least 15 rounds on January 2, 2020."
Evidently, a video from Ecuador is being shared on social media with a false claim that a Saudi Colonel involved in Khashoggi's assassination, was shot dead.
