White House shares edited photo of woman detained following ICE demonstration

Recently, the White House released a digitally altered image depicting a woman who was arrested in a high-profile case highlighted by Pam Bondi, the US Attorney General. A detailed analysis by The Guardian revealed that the alteration aimed to present the woman, Nekima Levy Armstrong, as dramatically crying.

Armstrong, whose skin appears darker in the modified image, was among three individuals arrested last Thursday during a demonstration that interrupted church services in St. Paul, Minnesota. The protest was sparked by claims that one of the pastors, David Easterwood, was involved with the local office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Bondi made the announcements concerning the arrests on social media that same morning.

On Thursday at 10:21 AM, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem shared an image of Armstrong’s arrest. This photo depicted a law enforcement officer escorting a handcuffed Armstrong, with the agent’s face blurred. In this image, Armstrong, dressed entirely in black, appeared calm and composed.

However, a mere 30 minutes later, the White House shared a different portrayal of the same incident, showing Armstrong in tears. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, reposted this modified image. According to The Guardian’s findings, this portrayal of Armstrong had indeed been digitally altered.

In a further comparison made by The Guardian, the analysis revealed that when overlaying the White House’s altered image with the one released by Noem, both images aligned perfectly in terms of the positioning of law enforcement agents. Additional details show an unidentified individual caught in the background of both images, reinforcing the notion that these photographs were, indeed, taken at the same moment. Notably, the arresting agent’s arm is positioned similarly behind Armstrong in both frames.

When questioned regarding the modifications to the image, the White House directed inquiries to a post on X from Kaelan Dorr, the deputy communications director.

“YET AGAIN for those who feel compelled to defend perpetrators of heinous crimes, here is this message: Law enforcement will persist, and so will the memes. Thank you for your engagement on this issue,” Dorr stated.

The White House’s X account, boasting around 3.5 million followers, reportedly has made numerous posts utilizing AI since the beginning of Trump’s second term, as per reports by Poynter in October.

Julius Constantine Motal and David McCoy contributed to this reporting.