A Rio de Janeiro news crew was interviewing this woman about the high rate of crime when some young punk ran up and attempted to mug her by ripping a gold chain off of her neck, which broke, although the mugger did not get away with it. There was some discussion with a few Uproxx writers on whether or not this was possibly a hoax, which — I can’t say for certain — but I did notice a few things “off” about this video:
1. Out of all the people on a crowded street, why would a mugger target a woman on camera, and furthermore, why would he go for a thin, worthless chain rather than the purse sitting on her shoulder?
2. Why did the interviewer push the woman in the neck before taking off after the criminal? The poor lady screams once when she gets mugged, then again when she gets pushed.
3. Why does the clip blur the mugger’s face as he was running away? YOU DON’T NEED TO PROTECT THE IDENTITY OF A CRIMINAL!
I don’t know what kind of scruples Brazilian news outlets possess, but if this thing is a hoax I’d have to guess that the news station set it up to sensationalize their story, because the woman’s panic seems 100% legit. So, uhhh, best case scenario, a news station faked a mugging for ratings; worse case scenario, a woman got mugged on live television.
Good thing the 2016 Summer Olympic game are being held in the Rio de Janeiro! I’m expecting it will be like Sochi, only with more of this:
