The White House confirmed that they posted an altered image of a Minnesotan protester’s arrest after the image sparked backlash and confusion online.
On Thursday, CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale took to X and shared that the White House “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.”
The photo in-question inaccurately showed Nekima Levy Armstrong, the Racial Justice Network leader, as if she was sobbing during her arrest on Thursday.
Representatives for the White House responded to TheWrap with a link to the following X post which reads, “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.”
Dale’s update came shortly after Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed Armstrong’s arrest on X, accusing the civil rights attorney of allegedly playing “a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota” on Monday.
She added: “Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP.”
Bondi later shared that protesters Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly had also been arrested.
However, it was Armstrong’s arrest that soon sparked controversy, as the White House’s X account and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem uploaded two noticeably different images of her arrest — leading many to believe that AI had been utilized to alter the image. View them both below.
https://t.co/ACPZFX2m3x pic.twitter.com/MyvE9HkSRA
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 22, 2026
Homeland Security Investigators and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong who played a key role in orchestrating the Church Riots in St. Paul, Minnesota.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) January 22, 2026
She is being charged with a federal crime under 18 USC 241.
Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States -… pic.twitter.com/LHh994fXf3
While some asked the White House to comment on the clearly doctored image, others, including podcaster Jordan Crowder, flamed the upload for featuring “bad AI.”
The White House’s X post has since been updated to reflect “readers added context,” which noted: “Digitally altered image.”
