Was Banksy really arrested in art exhibit in Palestine? Fact Check

An online rumour is claiming that popular graffiti artist Banksy was arrested at an art exhibit in Bethlehem, Palestine, and revealed to be a 38 year old man named Paul William Horner.

It’s not true. And this isn’t the first time such rumours have circulated. Back in 2014 the [almost] same hoax spread across the Internet claiming a “24-hour anti-graffiti task force” had apprehended Banksy who turned out to be a man named Paul Horner. That wasn’t true, and neither is this 2017 variant of the same rumour.

The links lead back to an article on NewsExaminer.net (but have spread to other sites) that reads in part –

Bethlehem, Palestine (AP) — The elusive graffiti artist, political activist, painter, film director and long time fugitive that for years has gone by the pseudonymous name of Banksy, was arrested early this morning by Israeli police. After hours of questioning the suspect and a raid of his London art studio by police, his true name and identity have finally been revealed.
Israeli Police, working in close connection with a London Anti-Graffiti Task Force say Banksy’s real name is Paul William Horner, a 38-year old male born in Bristol, England.

Back in 2014, the rumour was published on popular fake news site NationalReport.net. That site was owned by a popular hoaxer known as … Paul Horner (he uses his own name in his articles.) In 2017, NewsExaminer.net was responsible for the rumour, and … unsurprisingly… that site is also operated by Mr. Paul Horner too.

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This serial hoaxer has been in the news many times in the past, even being interviewed on many mainstream media stations over in the United States. He owns (or has owned) a number of fake news sites, including NBC.com.co (note the .co at the end) and CNN.com.de.

His fabricated articles have reached hundreds of millions, and popular hoaxes include the claim that Survivor successfully sued Mike Huckabee for unlawful use of their ‘Eye of a Tiger‘ theme, as well as the claim that President Obama had banned the word Christmas on all Federal property.

Horner often uses photos of himself in his article along with his name – something he has done with his 2014 and 2017 fake Banksy stories.

The image of a man in court used to illustrate this hoax is actually from a 2016 criminal case.

As such, the story about Banksy being arrested in an art exhibit in Palestine is completely untrue and as such should not be circulated as genuine.