Does a video show people in New York shooting fireworks along the ground during the 2026 NBA Finals? No, that's not true: The video is from a 2024 protest in the European country of Georgia and not from New York City following the Knicks' win against the Spurs on June 10, 2026. The video was published by international news outlets in 2024. The watermark on the video is from a Georgian news outlet Paper Kartuli.
The claim appeared in a June 10, 2026, post on X account @wstgoat7 (archived here). It opened:
What the fuck is going on in New York 😭😭😭
This is what the video looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @wstgoat7 on X.)
The video is from a protest in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2024, not New York City in June 2026. The video contains a watermark in the top right corner that reads "KARTULI."
The Associated Press (archived here) published the footage on Dec. 1, 2024, with the credit listed as belonging to Feodor Khudokormov from Paper Kartuli (archived here), a local media outlet covering Tbilisi and Georgia.
(Image source: The Associated Press.)
The video was published by The Independent on its YouTube account on Dec. 1, 2024.
Beginning at 0:12 in the video, there is a person dressed in black shooting fireworks on the streets. This footage matches that posted on X.
Here is a screenshot of the video from The Independent:
(Image source: post by The Independent on YouTube.)
Here is a screenshot of the video posted on X:
(Image source: post by @wstgoat7 on X.)
According to The Independent, the video shows protesters in Tbilisi, Georgia:
Protesters used fireworks against riot police in Tbilisi, Georgia, late on Saturday (30 November), during a third night of demonstrations against the government's decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.
