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Is There a Photo of Derek Chauvin Wearing a ‘Make Whites Great Again’ Hat?
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Is There a Photo of Derek Chauvin Wearing a ‘Make Whites Great Again’ Hat?

A photo being widely circulated is of another individual altogether.

Alec Dent
May 28, 2020
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Is There a Photo of Derek Chauvin Wearing a ‘Make Whites Great Again’ Hat?
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Widely shared tweets on Wednesday claimed that Derek Chauvin, identified as the Minneapolis police officer with his knee on the throat of George Floyd, had previously been pictured wearing a “Make Whites Great Again” hat:

Twitter avatar for @icecubeIce Cube @icecube
A wolf in wolves clothing. The demons are among us. #Fightthecowards
Image

May 27th 2020

46,677 Retweets142,728 Likes
Twitter avatar for @TalbertSwanBishop Talbert Swan @TalbertSwan
Here is Derek Chauvin, the racist cop who kept his knee on #GeorgeFloyd’s neck, cut off his air passage and murdered him, wearing a “Make Whites Great Again” hat, a clear sign that this piece of excrement should’ve been taken off the streets a long time ago. #JusticeForFloyd
Image

May 27th 2020

19,933 Retweets41,305 Likes
Twitter avatar for @DubaiNameShameD.N.S. @DubaiNameShame
His name is Derek Chauvin, and Of Course, he has a "Make Whites Great Again" Hat. Getting fired is NOT enough! He needs to be charged and convicted of MURDER then allowed to face prison justice for his crimes against humanity #justiceforfloyd #DerekChauvin
Image

May 27th 2020

40 Retweets111 Likes

The image on the left depicts the officer  Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck, but the image on the right is not Chauvin at all. It’s actually online troll Jonathan Riches. Riches has garnered a reputation for litigiousness, scams, and extreme trolling,  including pretending to be the uncle of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter. It’s unclear where the second image originated, but posts from a Facebook page bearing Riches’ name contain pictures of Riches in what appears to be the same shirt.

Furthermore, Snopes uncovered an archived post from Riches’ Facebook account that shows Riches in a “Make Whites Great Again” hat, and Riches confirmed to Snopes that he is the individual in the viral photographs.

Based on available evidence, the viral tweets are incorrect to identify Derek Chauvin as the man in the photograph.

Correction, May 28, 2020: This article initially stated that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was responsible for George Floyd’s death. Chauvin has been identified as the officer with his knee on Floyd’s throat in the widely circulated video of Floyd’s arrest and has been fired. At present, an official cause of death for Floyd has not been released.

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Is There a Photo of Derek Chauvin Wearing a ‘Make Whites Great Again’ Hat?
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Jake Adams
May 28, 2020

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“An online troll”

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JakeD
May 28, 2020

So, where are the lawsuits and arrests for inciting racial divide and the ripple effect violence?

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