People Are Questioning Footage of Woman in Wheelchair From Minneapolis Protests

Footage shared by a conservative media personality characterized it as an attack on an "elderly" woman, but many have since questioned this narrative.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Protests took place in multiple cities across the U.S. on Wednesday night amid a lack of charges being brought against the officers involved in the arrest of George Floyd, the unarmed black man whose death received national attention from activists and beyond after the release of footage showing a cop kneeing him in the neck.

Now, footage shared by conservative figure Andy Ngô is being brought into question. In a tweet Wednesday night, he described the video as showing an "elderly wheelchair-bound woman" being attacked at a Target in Minneapolis. He also shared footage of what is believed to be the same woman being met with a fire extinguisher, as well as a clip of her being hit in the head.

In the responses to this sharing of the footage, many have said the woman isn't actually "elderly" and argued she had been the aggressor in this encounter by wielding a knife. She's also been described as having been on the scene to halt those trying to enter or exit the Target location, and is seen in another clip describing what she says was an attempt at preventing people from leaving with "cartfuls" of items.

The discourse has resulted in a number of phrases—including "She's 30" and "Jennifer"—trending heavily on Twitter as of Thursday morning. Many have criticized the narrative being presented by those positioning the woman as the victim, arguing that it's wholly false, while others have contributed with the additional word of caution about being careful not to hinge criticism of the widely mocked footage on issues involving disability.

"We must continue to examine and address the systemic inequities and discrimination that led to this incident and far too many that have come before," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement on Wednesday, noting his preference that demonstrate "peacefully that we will make change together."

Meanwhile, Derek Chauvin has been identified as the officer who was filmed with his knee to George Floyd's neck, even as Floyd informed him he was unable to breathe. The other involved officers have been identified as Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng. At the time of this writing, as mentioned up top, none of the involved officers have been charged in Floyd's death despite widespread calls for justice.

Latest in Life