Following a case of police brutality, where an Afro-American man George Floyd was killed by a white Police officer in Minneapolis, videos and pictures of protests over his death and instances of racism started making the rounds on social media.
One such post claimed that his death was predicted by the American sitcom, The Simpsons, in the ’90s.
One image shows The Simpson’s character Chief Wiggum kneeling on a black man’s neck while Lisa Simpson stands by holding a “Justice for George” placard, while another picture shows a police station on fire.
Simpsons photoshocked #USAonFire pic.twitter.com/xxBCDbwxwG
— E. (@EzgiGunduzz) June 1, 2020
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above post and found it to be false.
Image 1
On the image where Chief Wiggum is kneeling on a black man’s neck, we noticed ‘@Yuri Pomo’ written on the right side.
A simple name search led us to the Instagram account of Yuri Pomo whose bio reads ‘The Celebrities Cartoonist’.
We found the image in question on his page, dated May 30, 2020.
View this post on Instagram
“Normally you’re used to see colorful and cheerful drawings from me, but since I’ve got quite a good audience, I’d like to use it as much as I can in the right way when the situation requires it, and bring something good, and useful with my drawings, and you guys know it.
Especially in this exact moment.
With this piece I’d like you to think deeply, Taking the chance to bring The Simpsons as an example for the cause. The Simpsons has always been everyone’s childhood, so the message will be clear and strong enough i suppose.
Imagine you’re sat with you daughter/son watching the Simpsons, and all of a sudden this scene happens in the show, as cruel as it has been, no jokes, no irony, nothing that the Simpsons normally has, and what it’s loved for. Imagine that, how would you feel? … Think about that deeply, and give yourself an answer, no need to add anything else! 🙏🏻” the post caption read.
This proves that it was made by artist Yuri Pomo and is not a scene from The Simpson.
IMAGE 2
The second picture, where a police station can be seen on fire is from the episode “Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder” (Season 11, Episode 6). In the scene from where the screengrab has been picked, Homer was pulled over by Springfield’s Police Chief Wiggum for bypassing the traffic. When Chief Wiggum asked, “Alright smart guy, where’s the fire?”, Homer points at the police station which can be seen ablaze.
In the episode, there is no mention of any protest or a riot. It was just one of the independent jokes.
IMAGE 3
The image is an actual image of a building burning. When we put the picture through Reverse Image Search, we found the same image on the website of AP Images.
According to the caption, it is a multi-story affordable housing complex under construction in Minneapolis.
“A multi-story affordable housing complex under construction near the Third Precinct, burns on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minn. Protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer Monday. (Mark Vancleave/Star Tribune via AP)” the picture caption read.
The above information clearly establishes that the post in circulation is False.
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