The Breitbart story of ruthless gang members and migrants’ desperate, life-threatening journey across the Strait of Gibraltar was somewhat at odds with the picture that illustrated it: A man in sunglasses on a Jet Ski, flashing a peace sign while wearing what resembled a soccer uniform.
He appeared to be having a pretty good time despite the details of the recent police crackdown. The story described migrants victimized by a gang that charged people 5,000 euros for the dangerous trek from Morocco to Spain. Gang members were locked up and hundreds of victims were rescued from boats. More than 100 had drowned in sea crossings and one Jet Ski was seized.
But, as Breitbart would embarrassingly learn, the man on the back of the Jet Ski wasn’t a human trafficking victim, or on a desperate sea crossing, or even in Spain at the time. Nor was he a human smuggler.
And he had a very famous face.
The man in the life jacket was Lukas Podolski, a German soccer star. He was riding a Jet Ski half a world away from the setting of the article, in Brazil during some time off at the Olympic Games. The Germans took silver.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/08/20/breitbart-published-a-story-about-migrant-gang-members-using-a-photo-of-a-major-soccer-star/?utm_term=.4a72b467d62a
Breitbart: Your authoritative resource for fake news.
