Fact check: No evidence bricks placed in Kenosha for planned unrest after Rittenhouse verdict

Daniel Funke, USA TODAY
·8 min read

The claim: Photos show piles of bricks placed around Kenosha, Wisconsin, in anticipation of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict

Two days before Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges, recycled rumors started to swirl online about potential unrest resulting from the verdict.

In a Nov. 17 Substack newsletter, Demi Pietchell claimed there were "mysterious bricks surfacing" in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Rittenhouse shot three people in August 2020, killing two and wounding one.

"Between 12 and 1 PM EST earlier today, a Kenosha officer checked a local alley way and verified there are 'bricks everywhere,'" the self-described social media influencer and creative director wrote. "Hmm… preparing for the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict already, are we?"

In her newsletter, which accumulated more than 3,200 shares on Facebook within two days, Pietchell claimed bricks were also "delivered" to cities following the August 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. As evidence, she included a collage of photos showing large stacks of bricks.

Several conservative websites later picked up her claims.

More: Kyle Rittenhouse collapses as jury finds him not guilty; Biden 'stands by what the jury' decided: What we know

"It appears the leftists are getting ready to clock in for work in Kenosha. There is a report of bricks being placed in Kenosha in preparation for rioting," the Gateway Pundit wrote Nov. 17, citing Pietchell's newsletter.

A website called We Love Trump then wrote about bricks appearing citing the Gateway Pundit, and Pamela Geller, co-founder of a group called Stop Islamization of America, wrote a Nov. 18 article citing We Love Trump. The photos from Pietchell's newsletter were included in all three articles and an array of other social media posts.

Fact check: Photo shows Swiss music festival, not Italian vaccine passport protest

But none of the images in the collage show bricks in Kenosha, a USA TODAY analysis found. And there's no evidence linking them to planned protests, either.

All of the photos in the collage trace back to debunked rumors that circulated online during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, prior to Blake's shooting. Kenosha police have refuted claims that activists are placing bricks around the city.

USA TODAY reached out to Pietchell and the websites that shared her claims for comment.

A young woman holds her fist up in front of a large banner hanging on a security fence at 16th and H Street in Washington on June 8, 2020, after days of protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by police in Minneapolis.
A young woman holds her fist up in front of a large banner hanging on a security fence at 16th and H Street in Washington on June 8, 2020, after days of protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by police in Minneapolis.

Photos show bricks in several cities, not linked to planned unrest

The photos shared in the articles show piles of bricks in several different U.S. cities in 2020. None of them were placed there for planned protests, as fact-checkers and media outlets reported at the time.

The collage in Pietchell's newsletter shows seven images of brick piles. Several of them were included in a June 2020 story from BuzzFeed News, which debunked rumors that activists were strategically placing bricks at Black Lives Matter protests around the country.

Let's break down each photo in the collage.

Two photos in the collage, in the bottom left and top right of the collage, show gray bricks next to three orange traffic cones in Fayetteville, North Carolina. BBC News reported in June 2020 that the bricks were linked to construction in the area.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
Update your settings here to see it.

Two more images in the collage, one in the top left and one in the center, show a pile of red bricks in front of Tom Thumb, a supermarket chain in Dallas, Texas. NBC News reported in June 2020 that the bricks were also related to a construction project.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
Update your settings here to see it.

A photo of someone standing in front of a pile of bricks, pictured at the center right of the collage, stems from a video shot in May 2020 outside a courthouse in Dallas. BuzzFeed News reported roadwork was underway at that location.

Another image at the center left of the collage shows bricks stacked around a tree trunk, surrounded by three orange cones. The photo was taken near a courthouse in Fort Myers, Florida, and city officials told a local NBC station in June 2020 that the bricks "were being temporarily stored to install a fiber optic cable."

One photo in the bottom right of the collage does show demonstrators taking bricks from a pile in New York City. The image comes from a video posted on Twitter in late May 2020, when protests over the murder of George Floyd erupted across the country.

Fact check: Students were not sent home with 'List of Privileges' letter, Delaware school district says

However, as BuzzFeed News reported, construction scaffolding is shown in the background, and the bricks were protected by barriers. Images from Google Maps show construction at that location dating back to 2017.

No evidence of protest-related bricks in Kenosha

Kenosha police told USA TODAY and other media outlets it hasn't received confirmed reports of people placing bricks around the city. Independent fact-checking organizations have debunked images claiming to show bricks in Kenosha.

"No bricks!" Lt. Joseph Nosalik, a public information officer for the Kenosha Police Department, said in an email.

David Graham, of Fredericktown, Ohio sits outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021 in Kenosha, Wis.
David Graham, of Fredericktown, Ohio sits outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021 in Kenosha, Wis.

In her newsletter, Pietchell also cited as evidence audio purportedly taken from a police scanner. In the audio clip, an officer is heard relaying a report about "some bricks being stacked up" near an intersection in Kenosha. An operator is also heard reporting a complaint about "stacked bricks."

USA TODAY independently verified the authenticity of the call, which took place Nov. 16. One of the complaints appeared to be connected to building construction, while the other was related to what an officer described as "bricks everywhere" in an alleyway off a residential street.

Nosalik did not respond to a request for comment on the audio. USA TODAY could find no evidence the bricks mentioned in the call were related to planned protests.

On Nov. 17, the same day Pietchell's newsletter and several articles parroting her claims were published, the Kenosha Police Department addressed rumors about planned violence in the city.

Special access for subscribers! Click here to sign up for our fact-check text chat

"KPD is aware of numerous attempts by malicious actors to spread disinformation on various social media platforms," the police department tweeted. "To date, there is no credible threat to public safety."

USA TODAY reached out to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department for comment.

USA TODAY also debunked similar claims regarding Detroit in early November of 2020.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that photos show piles of bricks placed around Kenosha in anticipation of the Rittenhouse verdict. The collage shared in articles and social media posts shows photos of bricks taken last year in several different cities. None of them were linked to planned protests or violence. Kenosha police say they haven't received any confirmed reports of bricks stashed around the city.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No bricks in Kenosha for planned Rittenhouse unrest

Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting

Recommended Stories