The White House Confirms It Altered Photo of Arrested Protester to Depict Her Sobbing: ‘The Memes Will Continue’

X screenshots

The White House has confirmed that it posted a fake arrest image of a Minnesota protester to its official X account Thursday.

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale reported, “The White House has confirmed its official X account posted a fake image of a woman arrested in Minnesota after interrupting a service at a church where an ICE official appears to be a pastor.”

Dale continued, “The White House image altered the actual photo to wrongly make it seem like the defendant was sobbing. Asked for comment, the White House sent a link to a spokesperson’s X post that said, ‘Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.’”

On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI arrested a civil rights attorney who took part in the protest on a Minnesota church.

“So far, we have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” Bondi wrote. “We will share more updates as they become available. Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP.”

Bondi also announced the arrests of protesters Chauntyll Louisa and William Kelly, with “more to come.”

The White House posted a photo of what appeared to be an upset Armstrong sobbing as an officer escorted her toward the camera.

However, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a nearly identical photo of Armstrong appearing calm as she was led away.

Some observers claimed the difference in the photos was brought about through A.I.

Anna Bower, senior editor at Lawfare, wrote, “Hi @WhiteHouse @PressSec. Was this photo digitally altered to make it appear that the defendant is crying? A similar photo posted by @Sec_Noem does not show her crying.”

Other pundits followed suit. InsiderWire, which bills itself as “News for Patriots by Patriots,” posted, “Great job! But why use an AI photo?”

Podcaster Jordan Crowder wrote, “Not just ai. Bad ai.”

Brett Maiselas with MeidasTouch wrote, “This is some dark, evil shit,” while MeidasTouch itself wrote, “Can you please provide comment on why this image was manipulated using AI to make it appear that the woman was crying?”

Also joining the protesters was former CNN anchor-turned-podcaster Don Lemon.

Bondi attempted to bring charges against Lemon on Thursday, but a federal magistrate judge “refused to sign a complaint bringing charges” against him, according to CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane.

Many others also commented on the photo differences.

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