A look at what didn’t happen last week

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

PHOTO SHOWS BIDEN WITH YOUNG BOY IN DETROIT, NOT GEORGE FLOYD’S SON

CLAIM: A photo shows President Joe Biden kneeling in front of George Floyd’s son.

THE FACTS: The young boy in the photo with Biden is not George Floyd’s son. Social media users shared the falsely identified photo during the murder trial this week of the Minnesota police officer charged with killing Floyd last May.

“U.S. President Joe Biden kneels down to beg George Floyd’s son for forgiveness,” a Facebook user who posted the photo falsely claimed. The false claims also circulated on Twitter.

In fact, the photo was taken on Sept. 9, 2020, and shows Biden in Detroit with a boy named C.J. Brown. His father, Clement Brown Jr., owns Three Thirteen, a clothing store in the city. Photographer Chip Somodevilla took the photo for Getty Images.

Associated Press photographer Patrick Semansky also took a photo of Biden and C.J. from a similar angle that day. That photo also shows the boy’s grandfather, Clement Brown. Biden reportedly went to the store to shop for his grandchildren. He was campaigning in Michigan at the time.

N. CAROLINA MURDER SUSPECT FALSELY TIED TO GEORGE FLOYD

CLAIM: George Floyd’s younger brother Dejywan Floyd was arrested for murder in North Carolina.

THE FACTS: George Floyd, who died while being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, does not have a younger brother named Dejywan. As Philonise Floyd, 39, George Floyd’s brother, testified on Monday in Chauvin’s murder trial, erroneous claims circulated on social media saying Floyd’s younger brother had been arrested for murder in North Carolina.

“Why isn’t this on the NEWS Channels? George Floyd’s younger brother, Dejywan Floyd, has been arrested in North Carolina for a ‘road rage’ shooting of a white couple, killing the mother of six sitting in the passenger seat,” a Facebook post circulating on Monday falsely stated.

The AP reported April 1 that Dejywan Floyd, 29, a North Carolina man, was charged with first-degree murder in the March 25 fatal shooting of Julie Eberly, 47, of Manheim, Pennsylvania. Eberly and her husband were driving to the beach when Floyd allegedly fired multiple shots from his car into Eberly’s car on Interstate 95, just north of Lumberton. Ryan Eberly was not injured.

Robeson County sheriff Burnis Wilkins told The AP that he is not aware of any relation between Dejywan Floyd and George Floyd. “We have no information at all to confirm this is true nor do we have reason to check into it as it’s not related to our case,” Wilkins said in an email. “We have seen the rumor ourselves. The last name Floyd is very common in our county and surrounding area.”

An obituary for George Floyd also makes no mention of a sibling named Dejywan. According to the obituary, George Floyd is survived by sisters ZsaZsa Floyd, LaTonya Floyd, Bridgett Floyd; stepsisters Camisha Carter and Constance Carter; brothers Terrance Floyd, Philonise Floyd and Rodney Floyd; and stepbrothers Deldrick Carter and Adrian Carter.

COVID-19 VACCINES ARE NOT CALLED ‘LUCIFERASE’

CLAIM: COVID-19 vaccines are called Luciferase, have the patent number 060606 and come from a digital program called Inferno.

THE FACTS: A protein used in some COVID-19 vaccine research is stirring up bogus conspiracy theories on social media as widespread posts claim the harmless enzyme luciferase has satanic associations. “Are you going to get the shot called LUCIFERASE with a patent number 060606 and digital program called INFERNO ???? ” read a viral post on Facebook. “The CV-19 VAXX has LUCIFERASE (Lucifer Race) DNA in it,” an Instagram user wrote. “You will loose your salvation forever!!!”

The posts misrepresent the enzyme, which is responsible for bioluminescence in some organisms. Luciferase is not an ingredient in any of the COVID-19 vaccines. It is the generic term for a group of enzymes that trigger the oxidation of chemicals called luciferins, producing a visible glow. In fact, the enzymes interacting with luciferins in fireflies is what makes them light up.

While luciferase is not found in COVID19 vaccines, the enzyme has been used in some COVID-19 research, as its ability to release light can help scientists visually track how viruses and vaccines affect cells.

At the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, luciferase has helped speed up diagnostic COVID-19 testing, because it allows researchers to see the presence of antibodies more quickly than they could using other methods. At the University of South Florida School of Public Health, luciferase helped researchers see how well a coronavirus proxy invaded cells, and which cells were most vulnerable.

In their attempts to cast luciferase as diabolical and anti-Christian, social media users also referenced a patent with the number 060606 and a “digital program called Inferno.” There’s no chance any U.S. patent for a COVID-19 vaccine would exactly match the number 060606, because U.S. patent numbers have contained eight digits ever since the country issued its 10 millionth patent in 2018.

Some of the social media posts attempted to link the COVID-19 vaccines to an international patent application filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC. That patent has the number WO2020060606, which contains 060606. But the application includes no mention of vaccines or injection, instead dealing with a cryptocurrency system that uses body activity data. What’s more, the patent application was filed in June 2019, long before COVID-19 began its global spread.

As for a digital program called Inferno, an internet search revealed no program related to COVID-19 vaccines by that name. Some social media users spreading false claims about the coronavirus mentioned an operating system called Inferno created in the 1990s by Lucent Technologies. There’s no basis for the claim that the operating system has anything to do with COVID-19 vaccines.

FBI DID NOT REPLY TO SKY NEWS TWEET ABOUT PRINCE ANDREW

CLAIM: When the British news outlet Sky News tweeted a video interview with Prince Andrew, the FBI responded with its own tweet, saying, “Ooh, is he doing interviews now?”

THE FACTS: The FBI did not send this tweet. British composer Nick Harvey confirmed to The AP that he created the fake tweet as a joke. An image containing the bogus tweet circulated after members of Britain’s royal family reacted to the announcement that Prince Philip, husband to Queen Elizabeth II, had died at 99.