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:

Ice Cube @icecube

A wolf in wolves clothing. The demons are among us. #Fightthecowards

May 27th 2020

46,677 Retweets142,728 Likes

Bishop 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

May 27th 2020

19,933 Retweets41,305 Likes

D.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

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.