A post shared on social media purportedly shows an image of Bill Gates receiving a lethal injection.

BREAKING- BILL GATES WHO WAS ARRESTED OCTOBER BY WHITE HATS HAS BEEN EXECUTED AT GITMO.
GATES WAS GIVEN A LETHAL INJECTION AND ASKED TO LEAVE HIS GLASSES ON SO HE COULD SEE HIS EXECUTIONERS AS HE CUSSED AT THEM pic.twitter.com/p8qUu4tWjm

— REALCHIEFPOLICE (@JV1080_XP) January 1, 2024

Verdict: False

The image has been digitally altered.

Fact Check:

Jeffrey Epstein’s list of friends and associates has been released and includes Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett, Newsweek reported. Bill Gates’ name does not appear on the list leading to theories that he is one of the redacted names, though a spokesperson for Gates told People they’ve only met for “philanthropic purposes.”

A post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, purports Gates received a lethal injection. The image allegedly shows him tied to an execution bed.

The caption reads, “BREAKING- BILL GATES WHO WAS ARRESTED OCTOBER BY WHITE HATS HAS BEEN EXECUTED AT GITMO. GATES WAS GIVEN A LETHAL INJECTION AND ASKED TO LEAVE HIS GLASSES ON SO HE COULD SEE HIS EXECUTIONERS AS HE CUSSED AT THEM.”

The claim is inaccurate. The image appears to be a digitally altered screenshot of a video from 2016. The video’s description reads, “A painstaking reconstruction of a real-time execution by lethal injection that highlights some of the very specific issues relating to the USA’s preferred execution method.”

The video was part of an effort to end the death penalty in the United States, according to DeathPenaltyFail. The organization claims that using these films helps their effort to raise awareness about the emotional and financial burdens of execution. (Did Donald Trump Deliver A Bigger Tax Cut Than Ronald Reagan?)

This is not the first piece of misinformation that has been shared online. Check Your Fact debunked a video claiming to show Israeli soldiers stoning Palestinians to death.