The claim: Video shows empty shelves in Florida Walmart from a truck driver boycott
A May 19 Instagram video shows a wall of empty shelves in the deli section of a grocery store.
“No groceries smh sad these truckers weren’t playing when they said they were not delivering anything to Florida!!!” reads on-screen text.
The post’s caption includes hashtags such as “#walmart” and “#law.”
The post garnered more than 11,000 likes in three days. Similar versions of the video have been shared on Facebook and Twitter.
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Our rating: False
The video shows a Walmart in Florida dealing with a refrigeration issue. There haven’t been any verified reports of a truck driver boycott in Florida.
Video is unrelated to possible boycott
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new immigration law on May 10, invalidating out-of-state driver’s licenses and permits given to people living in the country illegally, among other things. In response, some Latino truck drivers threatened to boycott the state on social media.
But there’s no evidence the empty shelves shown in the Instagram video are a result of a boycott.
An earlier version of the video was shared on TikTok on May 13 and tagged in Palmetto, Florida. The beginning of the video shows stocked shelves to the left of the empty ones.
Robert Arrieta, a spokesperson for Walmart, told USA TODAY in an email that the video shows a store with a refrigeration issue that has since been resolved.
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Alix Miller, president and CEO of the Florida Trucking Association, told USA TODAY via email that she has not heard of any boycott occurring. And Nixa Haisley, a senior purchasing agent for the city of Palmetto, told PolitiFact that she recently visited the store and saw no shortages.
There have not been any verified reports of a truck driver boycott or food shortages in Palmetto.
USA TODAY reached out to Haisley and the Instagram user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The claim has also been debunked by the Associated Press.
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