“Make Whites Great Again” is trending on Twitter following the death of George Floyd at the hands (or knees) of a Minneapolis police officer.
The phrase, a play off of President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, was a worldwide trending topic early Wednesday morning (May 27), just one day after video footage of Floyd’s fatal encounter with police went viral.
Overnight, a photo had surfaced of a white man wearing a red hat with the words “Make Whites Great Again” apparently stitched on the front.
Many Twitter users have identified the man as Derek Chauvin, the now-former cop seen in the video kneeling on Floyd’s neck while he begged for air.
However, social media sleuths were able to determine that they’re not even the same person. The guy wearing the racist red had is actually a man with a storied history named Jonathan Lee Riches.
"Make Whites Great Again"
Just so y'all know. These two are not the same person. I know hes an asshole but we better be correct than just jump into shit that isn't right. These two are both assholes but not the same person.
Fuck the cop tho. pic.twitter.com/SUQvAqQWiP
— 2k19 Individual (Lol, I mean…) (@DNdamagi) May 27, 2020
Other photos surfaced as well, appearing to show Chauvin standing beside Trump at a rally wearing a red “Cops for Trump” shirt … however, the authenticity of that photo hasn’t been proven.
Oct 2019 @MinneapolisPD officers were told not to wear their uniforms to an upcoming Trump rally. Instead they sold shirts saying “Cops for Trump,” a shirt Derek Chauvin (the man who had his knee on #georgefloyd neck) was wearing when he attend the rally. https://t.co/V9JtAXS3sy pic.twitter.com/2VdqdH0lR1
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) May 27, 2020
The social media discourse followed massive protests in Minneapolis over George Floyd’s death—the latest in a continuing trend of black men dying after interactions with police officers.
Chauvin, his partner Tou Thao—who was also seen in the video idly standing by as Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck—and two other police officers were fired by the Minneapolis Police Department on Tuesday.
