CrimeDoor, an app dedicated to providing augmented reality recreations of gruesome murders, has decided to end plans to depict the killing of George Floyd after facing backlash, according to Variety.

The app, which has already produced depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and other grizzly killings, sent an email out to reporters touting their plan to create augmented reality versions of Floyd's death as well as the shootings of Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.

The creators behind CrimeDoor have already recreated the killing of Notorious B.I.G., Selena and Tupac Shakur.

Did any other journalists just receive this, the most fucked up press release for the worst app I’ve ever heard of? pic.twitter.com/apELBn3Fvr

— Maura Judkis (@MauraJudkis) April 7, 2021

A PR agency connected to the app sent out an email to reporters touting their ability to give users a way to “experience final moments in history for the first time in-person via augmented reality.”

When contacted about the potential for a Floyd recreation, the company said the press release was a mistake.

“While George Floyd was at one point discussed internally as a current moment that would go down in history due to the crime’s nature and societal impact, the CrimeDoor team decided that [the Floyd killing] was too sensitive and the timing did not feel right to feature it. No case profile or AR door has been created around this, and there is no plan to launch this currently,” a spokesperson told Variety.

Floyd's killer, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, is currently on trial for murder and social media has been inundated with the tearful testimony of witnesses who have been scarred by the incident.

After getting the email about the Floyd killing recreation, Washington Post features reporter Maura Judkis said it was “the most f**ked up press release for the worst app I’ve ever heard of.”

The app's creators have sent out dozens of press releases touting the murders they recreate and often tie the murders to current events. Last week, during Easter, the app released an AR recreation of Jesus' crucifixion.

They are now selling the killings of Jesus and Abraham Lincoln as NFTs, the company said in a press release. In an interview with Yahoo, the creators said they were modeling the app after Pokémon GO.

According to Variety, the app is selling AR recreations of Jesus, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Gianni Versace, the Black Dahlia and Jeffrey Epstein. for $1.99 each and is giving users free AR depictions of John Lennon, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, and JonBénet Ramsey being killed.

It also offers monthly and yearly subscriptions for all the murders they recreate.

The app's creator, movie producer Neil Mandt, has tried to justify the app's existence by claiming they are not "celebrating killers" but instead "giving a voice to the victims," according to a press release sent out announcing the company's founding.

“The Augmented Reality app opens the doorway to a crime scene right in your living room or anywhere, for that matter. You can walk into a crime scene and examine the evidence and more,” Lauren Mandt, Neil's wife and a collaborator on the app, said in a press release.

“Since the beginning of the app, one of the pillars that we really have stood behind is to give a voice to the victims. We want to focus in on them,” she added.

The company previously faced backlash for promoting their content to children on Tik Tok, urging users to go look through the crime scene of two teenagers who were killed in 201, according to Daily Dot.

Neil-Mandt

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