Fact Check: Did White House X account alter protester's photo to add tears?

WASHINGTON, DC: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem posted an image on X on Thursday, January 22, showing Nekima Levy Armstrong - one of three people arrested for allegedly disturbing a church service while protesting an immigration crackdown - getting arrested as her face remains calm and expressionless.

However, around half an hour later, the White House posted the same image on the platform, but it showed Armstrong sobbing, her mouth open, forehead wrinkled, and tears streaming down her face. So, was the image real or an altered one? Let us find out below.

Claim: WH posts altered image of protester with tears

The White House’s X account on Thursday posted a photo of Nekima Levy Armstrong, a protester arrested in Minnesota, showing her face contorted with tears.

A caption was superimposed on the picture that read 'ARRESTED Far-Left agitator Nekima Levy Armstrong for Orchestrating church violence in Minnesota.'

Interestingly, the White House's X post offered no disclaimer whether the image had been edited, and it was not immediately clear if any alteration was done using an AI tool or other photo editing software.

Armstrong allegedly played a key role in the protest at the Cities Church in St Paul on Sunday, January 18, where a group of protestors stormed the church mid-service, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday, January 21.

"Minutes ago, at my direction, DHS and FBI agents executed an arrest in Minnesota. 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 in an X post.

Fact Check: White House acknowledges the image is altered

White House Deputy Communications Director Kaelan Dorr acknowledged that the image posted by White House's X account has been altered.

Resharing the White House post featuring Armstrong’s altered photo, Dorr wrote, "YET AGAIN to the people who feel the need to reflexively defend perpetrators of heinous crimes in our country, I share with you this message."

He added, "Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Meanwhile, Walter Scheirer of the University of Notre Dame told an outlet that in the age of deepfakes and AI, such edited images are now 'commonplace in partisan politics.' 

Scheirer added, "They are frequently used to humiliate opposition figures or make exaggerated political statements that resonate with a political base. One could consider this the contemporary version of newspaper political cartoons, but there is a notable lack of decorum when it comes through official government communication channels."

In 2025, President Donald Trump, or the White House, shared similar AI-generated images depicting the POTUS dressed as the Pope, roaring alongside a lion, and conducting an orchestra at the Kennedy Center.