Did media use same photo of man to report two COVID-19 deaths? Fact Check

A meme on social media claims to show two different news stories reporting about two different COVID-19 related deaths, yet using the same photo of the alleged victim, who is – according to the meme – actually a “crisis actor” playing different roles.

FALSE

The meme essentially makes the underlying claim that many – if not most – COVID-19 deaths are actually fake and are the same “crisis actors” playing different roles.

It’s an extension to the absurd yet prolific branch of conspiracy that claims the government employs “crisis actors” to play certain roles in certain events. Crisis actor conspiracies are typically associated with mass shootings in the United States but, as is the case here, are often used to peddle other conspiracies.

The meme posts two media articles, one claiming a “69-year-old retired Milwaukee police lieutenant” died from COVID-19 and the claiming a “University of Memphis professor” died of COVID-19, and both reports show the photo of the same man, as per below.

The Rona is soooo bad that this guy caught it not once but twice, and managed to die twice in two different states but he also changed careers in the meantime!!
Damnnnnn zombie apocalypse is real

While the articles are real, they are both referring to the same man, with each headline using different (but both accurate) descriptions of him. The creator of this meme and conspiracy has overlooked one simple fact – that a person can have more than one job in their life.

The man in the photo is Dr. Lenard Wells. He had spent 30 years with the Milwaukee police department before becoming a professor at the University of Memphis.

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As such, both headlines are correct, but each one opted to use a different part of his life in their headline.

Had those sharing this conspiracy went on to actually find and read both articles (they’re here and here) they would have seen that both news articles mentioned both of his jobs when describing Dr. Wells.

As such, this is ranked false.