Like the continued spread of violence across the country, the amount of misinformation about the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests is spreading rapidly online, adding to the chaos as nationwide demonstrations enter their second week.
Experts following the theories say they range from claims that Floyd’s arrest was staged to others saying he is still alive, despite video evidence that the 46-year-old unarmed black man died in police custody after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for about eight minutes.
Also circulating online are unfounded claims that claim with no proof, that George Floyd’s death was part of an international conspiracy to destabilize the U.S., while some allege that former officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged with third-degree murder, is an actor.
Not surprisingly, Twitter has been fertile ground for many of the unfounded claims. A search for the phrase “George Floyd is not dead” brings up dozens of results on the platform.
Over the weekend, one unverified Twitter account tweeted that “George Floyd’s execution is part of a Russian military intelligence operation.” The post has over 4,400 likes and 1,800 retweets without comment.
Yet another tweet claimed that Chauvin was pictured wearing a “Make America White Again” hat, was retweeted more than 19,000 times despite Twitter warning that the image contained manipulated media.
However, much of the misinformation has focused on the subsequent protests and who is organizing them.
Some theorized that one entity that has been painted as orchestrating the protests -- or at least the more violent parts of them -- is antifa, a loose organization of radical activists who say they use direct action to fight against fascism.
More: TheHill.com