Viral tweets from high-profile figures incorrectly claim that a Minneapolis police officer who was involved in the violent arrest of a black suspect who later died wore a racist hat.
Police officer Derek Chauvin and three other officers were fired Tuesday for their involvement in the arrest and death of George Floyd after police were called to investigate a “forgery in process,” which was documented in a viral video.
Chauvin can be seen in the video kneeling with his full weight on Floyd’s neck while another officer stood and watched both of them, ignoring pleas from onlookers and Floyd himself.
Following the incident, verified Twitter users, including Ice Cube and Bishop Talbert Swan, falsely claimed that a picture of a man wearing a red hat in the style of President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hat that read “Make Whites Great Again” was Chauvin.
“A wolf in wolves clothing,” rapper Ice Cube tweeted along with the picture that was supposed to be of Chauvin wearing the hat. “The demons are among us. #Fightthecowards.”
A wolf in wolves clothing. The demons are among us. #Fightthecowards pic.twitter.com/UYw7zXNabQ
— Ice Cube (@icecube) May 27, 2020
Ice Cube’s tweet had been retweeted almost 20,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon and liked more than 60,000 times.
Both Ice Cube’s and Swan’s tweets, along with other tweets about Chauvin from verified users, were confirmed false by the fact-checking site Snopes and various journalists online.
“Two tweets going mega viral that show a picture of a professional troll and not the cop who killed George Floyd that I’m sure @Twitter will get right on to fact checking,” the Daily Caller’s Greg Price tweeted Wednesday, adding that the man with the hat on has “been involved in a number of trolls including once pretending to be the Sandy Hook shooter’s Uncle.”
“Not him,” journalist Andy Ngo tweeted in response to Swan.
Not him. https://t.co/sxc7qOo7d8
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) May 27, 2020
Neither Swan nor Ice Cube had posted a retraction or apology as of Wednesday afternoon.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Minneapolis Tuesday night following the news of Floyd’s death, at times clashing with police.
Protests appear to turn violent in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd.
Four police officers involved in his apprehension have been fired while the incident is under investigation.
?:: @Breaking911 pic.twitter.com/89cOS7eHtz
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 27, 2020
Floyd’s family has said it wants all four officers involved to be charged with murder.
“They need to be charged with murder because what they did was murder,” Floyd’s cousin Tera Brown told CNN. “And almost the whole world has witnessed that because somebody was gracious enough to record it.”
“They treated him worse than they treat animals,” Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd added.
