Fact Check

Was This McDonald's Burned During Floyd Protests?

Grease fires are an occupational hazard at restaurants, protests or no protests.

Published May 31, 2020

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Claim:
A photograph shows a McDonald's set afire during protests over George Floyd's death.

As protests over the May 2020 police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis swept across the U.S., resulting in the burning of structures in many cities, the Breaking9ll Twitter account tweeted a picture of a blazing McDonald's restaurant along with the caption "BREAKING: McDonald's Has Fallen":

This tweet did not feature a real photograph of a McDonald's set afire during protests over Floyd's death, however. The image was a repurposed photograph of a restaurant in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, that burned in November 2016 after a grease fire started in its kitchen:

The McDonald's at 757 E. Cumberland St. in Lebanon is deemed a complete loss by Lebanon Fire Commissioner Duane Trautman after a grease fire started in the kitchen and spread toward the roof Friday night.

Crews were dispatched just after 8 p.m., and according to dispatch reports, a fully involved kitchen fire is what they arrived to.

The Breaking 911 Twitter account, which described itself as a "parody account," mimicked the appearance of the real Breaking 911 news site's Twitter feed. The former account has since been suspended by Twitter.

Sources

Asroff, Chris.   "McDonald's East Complete Loss After Grease Fire."     Lebanon Daily News.   18 November 2016.

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.