What to Know
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the White House both announced the arrest of a protester in Minnesota, but the photos they used to do so looked disturbingly different. Lawyer and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong was arrested after demonstrating during a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota. Levy Armstrong and other protesters have accused one of the church’s pastors of being the acting field director of the St Paul Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office.
In the photo that Noem shared after Levy Armstrong’s arrest, Levy Armstrong looked relatively calm. In the photo that the White House shared, Levy Armstrong appeared to be sobbing.
Multiple outlets have reported that the White House image was fake.
https://t.co/ACPZFX2m3x pic.twitter.com/MyvE9HkSRA
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 22, 2026
The White House took the photo posted by Noem and altered it to make it look like Levy Armstrong was crying at the time of her arrest. Per the New York Times, the White House shared its fake photo of Levy Armstrong about 30 minutes after Noem shared the original photo. The publication used an AI detector to analyze the images and found that the White House version “showed signs of manipulation.”
The image was also seemingly altered to make Levy Armstrong’s skin look darker. The Guardian found that the two photos share a lot of similarities, suggesting that the White House really did manipulate the photo Noem posted.
The White House later called the digitally altered photo a “meme,” but people find it horrifying.
Homeland Security Investigators and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong who played a key role in orchestrating the Church Riots in St. Paul, Minnesota.
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) 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/O9yp4nRio1
When news outlets questioned the White House about the photo, they were told to read a post shared by White House spokesperson Kaelan Dorr. In an X post, 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: Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Thank you for your attention to this matter.” What is apparently just a “meme” to the White House feels rather dystopian to people.
On social media, people couldn’t decide whether the manipulation of the image was straight-up disturbing, super immature, or “intensely evil” (or all of the above). While the White House tried to play it off as a trivial, harmless meme, many saw it as a huge deal, especially because it came from the official White House account.
“This should be an impeachable offense. Straight up altering evidence and lying to the American people,” one person argued on Reddit. Several others pointed out that it’s rather interesting how the Trump administration regularly complains about “fake news” yet openly produces it themselves. “For an admin that cries ‘fake news’ all the time, they sure know how to create it,” someone else wrote.
And others pointed out that they continue to be surprised every time the Trump administration manages to reach a new low. “Every day they find a new way to be disgusting,” another person concluded.
