Fact Check: Is video showing an anti-ICE protester touting hourly pay real?

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: The shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis has led to widespread protests against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The protest against Good's killing has not just erupted in Minneapolis, but also across different states.

Amid this, a rumor circulated online in the form of a video showing a Minneapolis man admitting in a television interview to taking an hourly payment to protest against ICE. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.

Claim: Anti-ICE protester touts hourly pay in viral clip

In mid-January, a clip went viral across social media where a Black man was seen being interviewed, where he admits to taking an hourly payment to protest against President Donald Trump's ICE.

A Threads user shared the clip on Sunday, January 11, and captioned it, "BREAKING: This clown gets paid $20/hr to 'protest' against ICE! It's straight-up bought and paid for radical theater! Who's signing the checks?"

The short video shows a man resembling YouTuber Nick Shirley interviewing a Black man holding a picket sign on the street. The interviewee says he does not have a job but was out protesting for $20 per hour.

The man could be heard saying, "Yeah, they give us some money", as text in the lower third places the interview in Minneapolis and reads, "Paid to protest?"

An X user also shared the clip and wrote, "JUST IN: There's no hiding it now. Proof that ICE protesters in Minnesota are being paid. This guy said $20 an hour."

False: The viral clip is AI-generated

The claims made in the online rumor are false, as the viral clip showing a man admitting in a television interview to taking an hourly payment to protest against the ICE is generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

The viral clip includes a floating watermark for Sora, which is OpenAI's text-to-video generator. Similarly, other irregularities include a logo in the chyron and on the microphone for 'WMIN 7', but no such media house exists in Minnesota or elsewhere. 

The clip also has nonsensical text on the interviewee's sign and other posters in the background. The video also shows daylight despite being timestamped to 5:44 PM, which would be after sunset in Minneapolis in January.

Renee  Good’s family denies criminal record claims

Renee Nicole Good’s family publicly pushed back against swirling online rumors falsely suggesting she had a criminal past. Her family issued an emotional public response to push back against false online rumors claiming she had a lengthy criminal record.

Good’s sister-in-law, Morgan Fletcher, explained in a Facebook post, "I’ve been pretty quiet about this, because I wanted to wait until our family could piece together a statement… and it is finally published."

She added, "You never think the passing of a loved one will be high profile… or a massively divisive, political topic. You never think the passing of a loved one will be high profile… or a massively divisive, political topic. Regardless of what happened, she was our family. Cole and my sister-in-law. And our nephew… is now an orphan."

"We are grieving. Heavily. And yes, we see everyone’s posts and comments. Some in support but also, the nasty ones ripping apart our beautiful and beloved Renee. And we’ve seen the false claims and the wrong Renee Good’s info being posted (criminal history? She didn’t have one)," Fletcher also wrote.