Media conceals migrant violence – video of assault removed

Over the weekend, the Norwegian newspaper Bergensavisen reported on a brutal attack in which four foreign men assaulted a lone victim. The video was subsequently removed and has reignited the debate about how the media chooses to conceal certain types of violence and applies double standards.

On Sunday, the newspaper reported on several violent incidents at Burger King in central Bergen on May 17th, Norway’s national day. One such case involved a 17-year-old boy who was severely beaten by several people. According to police information, the boy sustained facial injuries in the assault, and the perpetrators—aged between 18 and 20—managed to leave the scene before the police arrived. However, there was a video of the assault, which was published on their Facebook page.

When the video was published, many reacted to the fact that it showed something quite different from what many had perceived based on the newspaper’s reporting. In the footage, it is clearly visible how four foreign men attack a white man in the streets of central Bergen—something that was not mentioned at all.

The video was later taken down and only remained on the newspaper’s website behind a paywall, a move that has prompted reactions. Since then, the video has been shared by, among others, the activist group Patriot Bergen, which argues that this case illustrates how ethnic and cultural aspects of violent cases are often downplayed or omitted in mainstream media.

On May 17th in Bergen, a boy (17) is said to have been beaten until he bled. BA removed the video, but we recorded it. It is clearly four foreigners against one white boy. He also gets kicked while lying on the ground. Typical characteristics of our new countrymen. pic.twitter.com/9sJcsJqruN

— Patriot Bergen (@Patriot_Bergen) May 18, 2026

False accusations received widespread coverage

According to Rabulisten.no, this case also stands in sharp contrast to how Bergensavisen previously covered the much-publicized racism allegations from Hamse Ali in Bergen. In September 2024, the newspaper published a report in which Ali claimed to have been the victim of a brutal racist attack. Bergensavisen passed along the allegations uncritically and described the incident as “racist violence.”

It later emerged, however, that it never happened, something Bergensavisen admitted and confirmed that there was proof that the alleged assault described by Ali had never taken place. Yet, the initial allegations of racism spread widely, while the recently published video from central Bergen—where the perpetrators’ backgrounds are visible to everyone—was quickly removed from the newspaper’s public pages.