A screenshot of a tweet appearing to show the Chicago Police Department expressing support for convicted ex-policeman Derek Chauvin is being disseminated online. The Chicago Police Department denied posting the tweet and Reuters found no evidence to suggest the tweet was authentic.
Shared over 60,000 times, the posts (here , here , here , here , here) show a screenshot of a tweet purportedly posted by the Twitter account @Chicago_Police with a photo of Chauvin and the caption, “We are all Derek Chauvin.” The Twitter handle, profile picture and blue tick all appear to match that of the real Chicago Police Twitter account seen twitter.com/Chicago_Police .
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was convicted on April 21 of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd during an arrest in 2020, which sparked worldwide protests over policing and racial justice (here).
In response to the tweet screenshot circulating on social media, Chicago Police tweeted here saying, “we reported this tweet”. Chicago Police also retweeted a fact check by Snopes here and a post by journalist Brandon Pope here saying, “Seen this photoshopped image go around. It’s clearly fake.”
All of the posts Reuters found showed a screenshot of the alleged tweet, not a link to the tweet itself. Reuters performed several advanced Twitter searches and found no evidence of the tweet (here , here , here ). Reuters did not find this statement in support of Chauvin on any of the Chicago PD social media pages nor in any press releases (here).
Chicago Police did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
VERDICT
False. There is no evidence to suggest the Chicago Police Department tweeted in support of Chauvin. The department said it had reported a social media post that suggested it had sent such a tweet.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.