The Washington Post deleted a Monday tweet alleging George Floyd was fatally shot in 2020 while in police custody.
The post included a submission platform for the public to answer what has and has not changed since the police-involved death of Floyd occurred in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was shot and killed in police custody. His death sparked outrage, wide scale protests and calls to change policing,” the tweet read. “Two years later, what has — or hasn’t changed?”
WaPo writes that George Floyd “was shot & killed in police custody.”
He was never shot. He died of cardiopulmonary arrest & official autopsy found nothing to “support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.” His blood had 11 ng/mL of fentanyl.https://t.co/xtqA23zfk3 pic.twitter.com/27QapU2zaK
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 24, 2022
The tweet was replaced, reportedly after about 40 minutes, by another saying, “Tell the Post: How have things changed in your community since George Floyd’s death?” The Washington also followed up, clarifying that it deleted the original post due to its language. (RELATED: WaPo Stealth Edits Article Comparing Justice Thomas To A ‘White Conservative’)
“We’ve deleted a previous tweet for this form that included language that was changed after publi[cation],” the outlet said.
We’ve deleted a previous tweet for this form that included language that was changed after publish.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 24, 2022
Floyd died of a lack of oxygen from being pressed against pavement by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee, a pulmonary critical care expert witness, Dr. Martin Tobin, testified during Chauvin’s murder trial. Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck and pinned him to the ground for over nine minutes, including for three minutes after the man had lost the ability to breathe, according to Tobin.
David Fowler, a defense medical expert, testified that Floyd’s heart disease caused a “sudden cardiac arrhythmia” while he was restrained, saying that his use of fentanyl and methamphetamine contributed to his death. Blood tests found 11 nanogram per milliliter of fentanyl in Floyd’s bloodstream at the time of his death, which experts testified to not be fatal levels, according to USA Today.
Chauvin was sentenced in June 2021 to 22.5 years in the death of Floyd.