| USA TODAY
Military takes control of Myanmar while Aung San Suu Kyi is detained
Myanmar’s military television said on Monday that the military was taking control of the country for a year. Many leading politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyi, were arrested.
PA Media – News, PA Media – News
The video looks a lot like the other aerobic dances that Khing Hnin Wai posted on his Facebook page, at least at first glance.
With the Myanmar parliament building in the background, she waves her arms and jumps to the beat. But in the video shared on Monday, the early stages of a coup are forming.
In the video that went viral, the aerobic dancer appears to have captured images of armored vehicles arriving at the Naypyidaw government complex on Monday, when the Myanmar military took control of the government and detained the country’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The military said Suu Kyi was arrested for alleged irregularities in the voting in the November election, and that General Min Aung Hlaing took over.
Military coup in Myanmar: What does this mean for Aung San Suu Kyi, Joe Biden and democracy
Since then, a version of the dancer’s video has attracted over 20 million views on Twitter, and her initial Facebook post has been commented on and shared tens of thousands of times.
Khing Hnin Wai, who says on her Facebook that she is a physical education teacher, said she did not know what was going on behind her while she was filming the video.
“Before I heard the news (of the blow) in the morning, the video I made for the aerobic dance competition became an unforgettable memory,” said Khing Hnin Wai in it, according to an Al Jazeera translation.
While some debated the legitimacy of online video and challenged their motivations, she continued with another post sharing other videos of her dances that she had filmed in the same location for several months.
The Biden administration declares a ‘coup’ in Burma: What will this mean for US aid?
“I was not dancing to mock or ridicule any organization or to be silly … I was dancing for a fitness dance competition,” Khing Hnin Wai explained in another post, according to Al Jazeera. “As it is not uncommon for Naypyidaw to have an official train, I thought it was normal, so I continued.”
The BBC also reported on the authenticity of the video, and HoaxEye, a Twitter account dedicated to unmasking fake images, said there were “no obvious signs of editing”.
According to the South China Morning Post, the song that Khing Hnin Wai danced in the video is an Indonesian protest song, “Ampun Bang Jago”, which addresses “the power struggle between the people and the authorities”.
On Wednesday, the police formally accused Suu Kyi of possessing illegally imported walkie talkies. She could be stuck until February 15. Military leaders said on Monday they intended to take power for a year.
President Joe Biden denounced the military coup in the country, also known as Burma, as “a direct attack on the country’s transition to democracy”.
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard, Deirdre Shesgreen and The Associated Press
Follow USA TODAY’s Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller