Is There a Photo of Derek Chauvin Wearing a ‘Make Whites Great Again’ Hat?

A photo being widely circulated is of another individual altogether.

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Widely shared tweets on Wednesday claimed that Derek Chauvin, identified as the Minneapolis police officer with his knee on the throat of George Floyd, had previously been pictured wearing a “Make Whites Great Again” hat:

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  1. Melissa

    Great podcast. This has been such an upsetting last couple of days in America. It's like we have this escalating culture of cruelty, where first of all, events like this can happen and, second of all, we're so desensitized to others' pain that there's a whole sport around public witch burnings, the fun of destroying someone's life in retribution. I just read the news that Minnesota is on fire, as if bashing in windows and destroying stores is going to get us to place of resolution.

    Entirely different note but --- Jeffrey Epstein has come back into public view again with the new Netflix documentary. When it came out last year I hadn't read the full reporting in the Miami Herald but I did last night after watching the series. I guess I was curious to see if you guys could weigh in on what went down from a legal point of view. I guess I was trying to figure out how I should think about the defense lawyers in this case. It seems that there are people called to cause of legal defense particularly and I think I can understand it -- Our system works because everyone, no matter what they may or may not have been involved in, deserves a legal defense. I kind of got thrown into a quandary during the Alan Dershowitz interview where he explained the agreement reach not to notify Epstein's victims in terms of his narrow focus on getting his client the best possible terms. Yet, when I think about what Dershowitz and Starr did during their bit of the Epstein's whole legal arc, it doesn't seem like they were heroic. Similarly, when I hear Jay Sekulow try to advance the argument that the president is above the law I feel similarly morally repelled. I wonder what is the right way to think about this, especially in the case of these extremely highly paid defense lawyers. Are they benefiting our society or is there something I'm missing?

    Also, I wondered if, looking at what went down with the eyes of lawyers, if there was something obvious that I was missing in terms of how the 2008 case got settled how it did. Did he get off because he was in the right place at the right time to get a plea deal to testify about Bear Stears since it was right after the financial crisis? Sorry I got into the weeds about all that stuff. I figured you probably followed all that stuff since it was a big media story and being journalists and legal experts. Anyway, it might be of interest since a bunch of people are probably watching the new Netflix series.

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    Merrijane

    I didn’t even know about this controversy until I read the fact check!

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      Merrijane

      When did everyone on Twitter become as gullible as my boomer aunt?

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  3. Israel Bigelow

    We have deep rooted historical problems with race in America. Solving them does not mean taking eveything you see on social media at face value. Doing so accomplishes the exact opposite.

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  4. JakeD

    So, where are the lawsuits and arrests for inciting racial divide and the ripple effect violence?

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  5. Jake

    “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

    “An online troll”

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    1. KSchaefer

      "No, I said when you grow up."

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    2. tla

      Pretty much the same as saying, "I want to be president", having Trump now defined the presidency.

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About Alec Dent

Alec Dent is the fact check editor and culture editor for The Dispatch. He is a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC Chapel Hill.
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