Amid the growing anger over the death of George Floyd, several fake photos of Minneapolis PD officer Derek Chauvin have flooded the internet with an intent to spread a false narrative that tries to tie the officers as supporters of President Donald Trump and with racist ideologies.
Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin is currently at the center of controversy after a video of him kneeling on the neck of a black suspect, George Floyd who later died. The incident once again has stoked political debate on the issue of mistreatment of African-Americans in the US.
Twitter and Facebook are inundated with photos that claimed to show Officer Derek Chauvin wearing a "Make Whites Great Again" cap and attending a Donald Trump rally in October. It has now been established that the photos are fake.
The Minneapolis police union told The Associated Press that none of the officers involved in the George Floyd incident were at the Trump rally held in October.
With protests spreading across Minneapolis, keyboard warriors have targeted the families of the accused officers, leaked their home addresses, and published photos of their wives online. Protesters even turned up at the homes of the Minneapolis officers accused in the death of the 46-year-old Floyd where they wrote "Here lives a murderer."
One viral post that has widely been shared on social media shows the image of a man wearing a red baseball cap that said "Make Whites Great Again."
Celebrities such as rapper Ice Cube shared the images suggesting that the two people are the same According to the Associated Press, the man wearing the "Make Whites Great Again" cap was actually Jonathan Lee Riches, a known internet troll.
Another set of photos that are viral shows a man smiling onstage at a Donald Trump rally in Minneapolis last October. The posts that is being shared by hundreds of social media users falsely claimed that a man wearing a "Cops for Trump" shirt and holding up a "Vote Trump" sign, was Derek Chauvin.
Those photos actually are of Mike Gallagher, the president of the police union in Bloomington, Minnesota.
The situation in Minneapolis remains tense with the Mayor urging the public to maintain peace. In the riots that have continued for the second day, one man died as a result of police firing. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Mayor JacoMayor Jacob Frey said after watching the George Floyd death video he wanted the MPD officer Derek Chauvin behind bars.b Frey said he wanted the MPD officer Derek Chauvin behind bars.
I Can't Breathe: George Floyd Puked Blood
In the video, George Floyd can be heard moaning and repeatedly saying "I can't breathe" to the officer who has his knee on the man's neck.
"Please," the 46-year-old black suspect on the ground pleads. "I can't breathe," and continues to moan.
"My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. ... (I need) water or something. Please. Please. I can't breathe, officer. ... I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe." That was followed by more groaning.
In the video, a woman can be heard telling the cops that there is blood coming out of Floyd's mouth.
