Video Misrepresented as Anti-War Protest at White House Actually Shows January 6 Capitol Riot
The Claim
A video circulating across TikTok,[1] Facebook,[2] and Instagram[3] claims to show anti-war protesters storming the White House to oppose the ongoing Middle East conflict.[4] The clip spread widely after the United States and Israel launched a joint strike on Iran on February 28, 2026, which triggered regional retaliation and sparked protests in several American cities.
The viral posts include Indonesian-language captions stating that “people raided Donald Trump’s residence to voice opposition to the war.” In the footage, a crowd waving US flags and banners can be seen pushing aggressively through lines of security personnel toward a large white government building. The chaotic scene led many social media users to believe it showed demonstrators confronting authorities during the recent anti-war rallies across the United States.
The video gained further traction after nationwide protests on March 28, where organisers of the “No Kings” demonstrations claimed that millions of Americans participated in rallies criticising President Donald Trump’s policies, including the war and his administration’s immigration crackdown.
However, the viral clip has nothing to do with the recent protests or the Middle East war.
What CyberPoe Verified
A reverse image search of the footage reveals that the video is several years old and predates the current conflict by five years. The same clip was published by Yahoo News Australia on January 12, 2021, under the title “Protester throws fire extinguisher at police officer.”[1]
The footage was credited to Tyler Baggins via Storyful and was also used by major international outlets including ABC News[2] and The Washington Post[3] in their coverage of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
The scenes in the video match widely documented moments from that day, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol building during the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
Closer inspection of the circulating footage reveals multiple “Trump 2020” flags and banners being carried by individuals in the crowd a clear indicator that the event is related to the 2021 Capitol riot, not anti-war demonstrations in 2026.[1]
The police gear and defensive lines seen in the footage also match those used by Capitol Police during the riot, when thousands of demonstrators breached security barriers, forced entry into the building, and halted the electoral certification process for several hours.
According to official reports, the attack injured more than 140 police officers, damaged government property, and forced lawmakers to seek shelter while the congressional session was temporarily suspended.
None of these elements correspond with the recent anti-war protests, which were organised demonstrations in cities across the United States and did not involve protesters storming the White House or breaching federal buildings.
The miscaptioned video appears to exploit the current political tensions surrounding the US-Iran conflict and domestic protests, repurposing archival footage from a highly controversial moment in recent American history.
CyberPoe Verdict ❌
[1] https://www.barrons.com/news/biden-calls-for-us-capitol-riot-not-to-be-rewritten-ad7ef367
False / Misrepresented video.
The viral clip claiming to show anti-war protesters storming the White House in response to the Middle East war actually shows Trump supporters breaching the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riot. The footage predates the current conflict by five years and has been widely documented by international news organisations.
The claim illustrates how old footage is frequently recycled during major geopolitical crises to create misleading narratives and amplify online misinformation.
