A series of images circulated online displaying screenshots from "The Simpsons" episode wherein the Emmy award-winning animated TV show foretold the murder of George Floyd, an African-American man who died at the hands of the Minneapolis Police custody and ignited protests being staged throughout the country.
However, Snopes pointed out that the photos that surfaced do not exhibit a foretelling that "The Simpsons" did in the 1990s.
Know Your Meme News noted that it transpires like clockwork; every occasion that there is a major global event, a netizen will claim that the show predicted the advent. The website denounced the claim and said it is less fun than it sounds.
Floyd was reportedly suffocated to death by police officer Derek Chauvin, a white man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On May 25, he forced a knee on his neck for over eight minutes.
The famous animated show has foretold specific scenarios that would transpire in the future.
The Observers also denounced the viral photos on social media as fake screenshots.
It indicated that fake screengrabs were made to look as if the writers foretold the COVID-19 pandemic, President Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg's meeting, the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, the election of President Donald Trump into office, and 21st Century Fox Studios being bought by Disney.
A trending Facebook post stated that Floyd's arrest was foretold by the animated show. The June 3 post featured 2 Simpsons-style animated images of Floyd.
The still was allegedly taken from an episode where a policeman appeared to be kneeling on a black individual as Lisa Simpson holds a sign saying 'Justice for George.'
However, the circulating photo has a watermark on it, if observed with an eagle eye.
The artist behind the tribute art has his signature below the photo named Yuri Pomo. He can be found on Instagram where he uploaded the art earlier, captioned with a touching message against police violence.
The observation of many is misleading, as the aforementioned images were cropped and each image can be searched separately.
It was said that it is true that protesters torched a Minneapolis police station involved in brutal demonstrations. But the second photo is an unfinished housing complex in reality.
Therefore, the image did not appear in an episode. The Instagram user posted the art 5 days after Floyd's murder, on May 30.
"Normally you're used to see colorful and cheerful drawings from me," Pomo wrote on Instagram. "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."
A funny and now-deleted comment from a social media user indicated, "I love the Simpsons, but don't you think it's time the FBI and CIA investigate the creators of the cartoon, cause this it's just hitting the nail right in the head."
