The Logical Indian Crew

Fact Check: No The Simpson Did Not 'Predict' George Floyd's Death Back In The 1990s

Writer: Aditi Chattopadhyay

Aditi, part of the fact checking team of The Logical Indian likes to read, write, cook and laugh, in short live life as it is supposed to be. What makes her fascinated is to discover the truth behind a story and more often than not, it is either fact or myth at the end.

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India, 4 Jun 2020 2:12 PM GMT

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The Logical Indian Fact check team investigates the claim that 'The Simpsons' predicted George Floyd’s death way back in the 1990s.

As Protests erupted across the USA in the wake of George Floyd's death, a rumour started circulating on social media that the long-running sitcom "The Simpsons" had "predicted" his death way back in the 1990s.

Floyd had died after being pinned to the ground by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020.

The viral graphic is a collage of 3 images.

The graphic was shared extensively on Twitter.

The Simpsons did it again!!!!

Are we in a fucking movie? pic.twitter.com/TNclG7WXmN
— 🇬🇧QBubs/#WWG1WGA (@mr_squeege) May 31, 2020

The viral claims were also shared in a blog post.

Claim:

The Simpsons 'predicted' George Floyd's death way back in the 1990s.

Fact Check:

The claim is misleading.

The images were cropped and we reverse searched each image separately.

Image 1 and 2

These two images are being shared with the claim that "The Simpsons" predicted that a police station would be set ablaze.

Reportedly, protesters did torch a Minneapolis police station amid violent protests and angry demonstrations.

However, image 2 is actually an unfinished housing complex, as reported by Snopes.

The original photograph is attributed to the Associated Press.

"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)," reads the caption of the image.

Image 1 is indeed from an episode of 'The Simpsons'. The image, however, has no connection to the protests, George Floyd, or police brutality.

It refers to a joke the sitcom made about police incompetence.

The episode from where the image is taken is titled, "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder". It is the episode 6 of Season 11 of the show. In this, one of the main characters of the show, Homer decides to avoid traffic by driving along the grassy area next to the highway. He is subsequently pulled over by Springfield's Police Chief Wiggum.

"Alright smart guy, where's the fire?" the police officer asks Homer.

Homer then replies "over there" and points to burning Springfield police station.

Below is a GIF of the moment:

Image 3

The third image in the viral graphic shows Chief Wiggum kneeling on an African American's neck. This scene is similar to footages shot by witnesses which showed a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, with his knee on Floyd's neck.

Lisa Simpson, another significant character of the show can be seen holding a "Justice for George" sign.

This image is not from any episode by the Simpsons. A reverse image search of only image 3 led to a post on Instagram created by a user called Yuri Pomo. The image was posted on May 30, five days after Floyd's death.