White House Shares Digitally Altered Image of Woman Arrested After ICE Protest

The White House has posted a digitally altered image of a woman arrested in connection with an immigration protest, making her appear to be crying, according to an analysis by The Guardian.

The woman, Nekima Levy Armstrong, was among three individuals arrested on Thursday following a demonstration that disrupted church services in St Paul, Minnesota. Protesters claimed that one of the pastors, David Easterwood, was serving as the acting field director of the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. US attorney general Pam Bondi announced the arrests earlier that morning.

Shortly after the announcement, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem shared a photo of Armstrong’s arrest on social media at 10:21am. In the image, Armstrong—dressed in black and appearing handcuffed—is being escorted by a law enforcement officer whose face is blurred. She appears calm and composed.

More than 30 minutes later, the White House posted a different version of the same image showing Armstrong visibly crying, with darker-toned skin. The image was later reposted by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

A Guardian analysis found that the two images are identical except for the alterations. When overlaid, the photos align perfectly, including the positions of the arresting officer, background figures and the officer’s arm placement, confirming they originated from the same photograph.

When asked whether the image had been digitally altered, the White House responded by pointing to a post on X by deputy communications director Kaelan Dorr. In the post, Dorr said enforcement actions would continue and defended the use of “memes,” without directly addressing the image manipulation.

The White House X account, which has approximately 3.5 million followers, has shared at least 14 AI-generated or altered posts since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a report by Poynter published in October.

Additional reporting was contributed by Julius Constantine Motal and David McCoy.