The clip was filmed outside one of the chain's Franprix convenience stores in Paris. It is a few minutes' walk from the Place de la République, which has been the focal point of the social justice demonstrations that have led to violence across France.
It was around 17:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, October 17, when journalist Frédèric Munsch happened to capture a woman's attempt to stop looters at the store's entrance.
The looting of the store had started about an hour earlier. Then DN's correspondent Erik de la Reguera filmed masked protesters carrying goods and furnishings to the burning barricades on the other side of the street.
Frédèric Munsch says it was chaotic and difficult to breathe at the scene.
- Behind me a large pile of bicycles was burning. There were people everywhere, people had pulled sofas out of a furniture store. The demonstrators were angry that they had been driven away from the Place de la Republique. There was tear gas in the air and it burned in the throat and eyes.
The woman passed by with a friend. Frédèric Munsch took it to mean that she was on her way from the official demonstration held that day. Suddenly she stood in front of the masked people. In the video, she can be heard shouting:
- Stop, why are you doing this. This is not our purpose.
In the shop entrance, she is met by mocking shouts and insults.
- She used her own body to try to block the entrance of all the masked people. I was shocked. I hadn't done that and I'm much bigger than her, he says.
When he posted the clip on his Instagram account later that day, it was to show a man with civilian courage.
Then the phone started ringing.
- American journalists asked a lot of strange questions about immigrants and about her, he says.
Screenshots of the woman's face and false claims about her background were spread on social media.
An American X-account was the first to publish a fabricated story that the woman is one of France's biggest advocates for increased immigration, who had her exclusive store in Paris looted. The post was published on the night of October 18 and was copied a few hours later by a Dutch account. It has received millions of views.
Tommy Robinson in Great Britain, Alex Jones in the United States, Kent Ekeroth and Katerina Janousch in Sweden are some influential right-wing profiles who shared stories about the woman in the 24 hours that followed.
More and more versions of the story popped up at the same time, all linking the violence to migrants and describing the woman as a liberal who now has to pay for her positive views on immigration. Memes featuring her face, which have received many thousands of shares each, carry captions such as "suicidal empath", "useful idiot" and "damn I hate white liberal women".
DN has identified the hanged woman, who is 26 years old and lives in Paris. She does not own a shop nor is there any information available that she has been involved in any political party or organization. She has not responded to DN's contact attempts and has closed or removed her social media.
The looting of the store continued on October 17. A few hours later, journalist Arthur Deterque filmed the destruction inside the Franprix. In the clip, food, packaging and shelves are scattered over the floor.
Even these images have been taken out of context to spread a distorted view of reality. Screenshots of the refrigerators flickering by at the start of the video are circulating on social media. They allegedly show that pork, which practicing Muslims generally do not eat, is the only thing left in the shop.
"They leave the ham, wonder why," reads one of several posts that have received thousands of shares.
In the full video, it appears that significantly more goods remain on the shelves or are broken on the ground.
Frédèric Munsch says that everything possible was stolen from the store, both by protesters and by passers-by.
- Some took wine bottles to throw at the police, teenagers watching went in and took a Kitkat or Coca-Cola and kids handed out goods on the street, he says.
In the beginning, Frédèric Munsch tried to speak out in the comment fields when false information about the woman was spread. But he has given up.
- This is too huge for me. That's many millions of posts, I'm just one person.
The discount store is one of thousands destroyed in France in the past month. DN correspondent Erik de la Reguera's photo from Monday shows the premises as an empty shell, with plywood sheets over broken windows and an entrance that is wide open.
