Reports that migrants had carried out arson and large-scale violence during New Year’s Eve celebrations in the German city of Dortmund on Wednesday prompted a strong denial from city police, who called the claims misleading.
Several Web sites outside Germany carried articles in recent days claiming that a thousand-strong “mob” of migrants had attacked police and set fire to a church in the city. The reports, some of which were trending on social media, cited tweets from a local German news Web site, Ruhr Nachrichten, even though they contained no such claims.
Dortmund police spokeswoman Nina Vogt said that about 1,000 people had gathered in a square to celebrate New Year with fireworks — as is customary in Germany.
A handful of officers were injured by flying fireworks, but none were attacked, she said.
Vogt said a firework also struck some netting on scaffolding close to the Reinoldi Church, but the small fire was quickly extinguished.
“There’s no indication it was directed there on purpose,” she said.
Contrary to various reports on English-language Web sites, the church is not Germany’s oldest.
While there were several arrests and violent incidents in Dortmund, that was not unusual for a city of almost 600,000, she said.
“New Year’s Eve night really was pretty quiet,” Vogt said.
The reports appear to have been partly inspired by a far-right Web site from Dortmund known for its active neo-Nazi scene.
The issue of fake news, particularly in relation to migrants, has become a hot topic in Germany in the run-up to the country’s general election in the fall, and the government has called on social media Web sites to do more to prevent the spread of fake news.
In a separate incident, police in Upper Bavaria on Tuesday denied reports that had been circulating on Facebook about an asylum seeker committing a rape.
Police said they were investigating if such posts constituted a criminal offense and whether people who spread them could be held liable for wasting police time.
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