Does a photo show looters in a Target store after a New York jury found Daniel Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely? No, that's not true: This photo of looters in a Target store was taken in Minnesota in 2020, two days after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The photo is in the Alamy and Getty image stock photo catalogues and. When it was first published in 2020 it appeared with reporting from many publications.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on December 9, 2024. It was captioned:
Are black people really outraged over Jordan Neely or are they just looking for an excuse to get free stuff tonight?
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Dec 11 15:45:58 2024 UTC)
A reverse image search with Google Lens (archived here) for the photo of looters in a Target store produced many results. The photo appears in the stock photo catalogues of gettyimages.com and alamy.com. The Getty caption on editorial photo #1229143534 reads:
Minnesota community members mourned, protested and looted in reaction to George Floyd dying in police custody
Minneapolis, MN May 27: A looter tried to break in the cash register. Looters entered the Target store on Lake Street and made out with merchandise on the second day of protest in the death of George Floyd.(Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
The Alamy caption, provided by contributors, for the photo with the Image ID: 2NR0B6F reads:
In this Wednesday, May 27, 2020 photo, a looter uses a claw hammer as he tries to break in to a cash register at a Target store in Minneapolis. Rioters ignited fires and looted stores all over the city, as peaceful protests turned increasingly violent in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving looting can be found here.
