Some viral social media posts misleadingly suggest that piles of bricks are being staged ahead of the protests over the death of George Floyd to incite violence. We reviewed five social media posts making such claims and found no evidence of staging. In many cases, the bricks had been delivered for construction projects, or had been at the sites for some time.
LEGO isn’t discontinuing the sale of its law enforcement-themed toys, despite an erroneous social media claim. The confusion arose after the company temporarily suspended some marketing efforts — not sales — amid the U.S. protests following the death of George Floyd.
A Facebook post about protests taking place in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death is criticizing protesters for “destroying the cemeteries” of veterans. But three of the four images cited are old and have nothing to do with the protests.
Contrary to social media posts, Kellie Chauvin, the estranged wife of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, is not the sister of Tou Thao, another former officer involved in the events that led to Floyd’s death, according to Kellie Chauvin’s lawyer.
A tweet shared widely online during the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd — espousing a plan to bring violence to “residential areas… the white hoods” — was made to appear to be from antifa, the anti-fascist coalition. But the account behind the tweet was actually linked to a white nationalist group, according to Twitter.
A viral story shared on social media is falsely claiming that Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd, committed suicide in his prison cell.
Some social media posts have responded to Floyd’s death by pushing misinformation and conspiracy theories.