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Protester Sets Trump Supporter's Hair on Fire

A video captures an anti-Trump protester setting a Trump supporter's hair on fire with a lighter.

Published Jan. 24, 2017

 (Youtube)
Image Via Youtube

On 20 January 2017, a video showing an anti-Trump protester lighting a Trump supporter's hair on fire was published to YouTube:


Although the text displayed at the start of the video stated that the incident occurred on 20 January 2017 at an Inauguration Day protest, the video was frequently shared on social media along with the false claim that it took place at the Women's March on Washington event the following day:

womens march

At normal viewing speed it's difficult to tell what happens in the video other than that smoke is suddenly seen curling up from a young woman's hair, but a slowed down close-up of the video shows a hand clutching a cigarette lighter reaching out towards the woman's locks.

President Trump's inauguration was marred by violent protests that led to approximately 230 arrests. The Women's March on Washington held the following day, on the other hand, was a largely peaceful event that reportedly yielded zero arrests.

A woman identifying herself as Mackenzie Ullom, the Trump supporter in the red hat captured in the video, added some context to the scene in the comments section of YouTube:

I am the girl in this video wearing the red hat, and the girl who was lit aflame is a close friend of mine. I witnessed this entire event unfold. before this video was taken me and my friend were going back and forth with the protesters, all peacefully albeit a few crude gestures aimed at us. The fact that this woman had enough anger towards people with beliefs different than hers that she would go so far as to light them on fire is disgusting. To assault another human while forcefully preaching "love" and "tolerance" is unadulterated hypocrisy. We are doing everything in our power to find the woman responsible. Make America great again.

The video ended with apologies from the protesting group:

I'm extremely sorry. Like, that's f*cking horrible. Nobody deserves that.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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