(WTTW News)
The Chicago Police Department has taken to social media to criticize a “synthetic and manipulated image” that went viral and claimed to show the CPD had expressed support for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer convicted of killing George Floyd.
A Twitter user on Saturday published a screenshot that made it look as though the CPD’s official account had sent a tweet saying “We are all Derek Chauvin” following the officer’s conviction last week.
Not only does this synthetic and manipulated image, which is antithetical to our values, reflect the very worst of disinformation on social media, it also puts our officers & communities at risk by widening the gap in trust that we are working so hard to build, bridge & restore. pic.twitter.com/2hK7ovfTM1
— Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) April 26, 2021
While the CPD’s account never made such a statement, the original tweet depicting the doctored image has been retweeted some 50,000 times and garnered more than 230,000 likes.
“Not only does this synthetic and manipulated image, which is antithetical to our values, reflect the very worst of disinformation on social media, it also puts our officers & communities at risk by widening the gap in trust that we are working so hard to build, bridge & restore,” the CPD wrote in a tweet Monday.
Chauvin was convicted on charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s killing last May, which sparked protests and unrest in Chicago and other cities across the country last summer.
When asked for his thoughts on Chauvin’s conviction last week, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said “justice was served.”
It does not appear the CPD made any tweets about the case following the jury’s verdict, though the account has retweeted others calling out the fake screenshot.
“We reported the tweet and were just notified by Twitter that they reviewed the content, and didn’t find a violation of their policies, so no action will be taken at this time,” the CPD tweeted Saturday.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | (773) 509-5431 | [email protected]
