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The White House<\/span> used a photo that was digitally altered with Google AI tools in its PR campaign against resistance to the federal agents\u2019 assault on Minnesota, according to a Google detection system that confirms whether the tech giant\u2019s AI tools were used to alter a photo.<\/p>\n In the original photo, local civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong was shown being escorted by authorities after her arrest in connection to a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.\u00a0<\/p>\n The version published by the White House\u2019s official X account showed an image that had been altered to make it appear as if Levy Armstrong were openly weeping.<\/p>\n \u201cI was there when they arrested her, and she definitely wasn\u2019t crying \u2014 she was calm, rational, and dignified,\u201d said Jordan Kushner, an attorney for Levy Armstrong. \u201cThis is part and parcel of a fascist regime where they literally invent reality to serve their fascist agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n According to an Intercept analysis using Google SynthID \u2014 a program that identifies hidden markers used by Google AI tools on photos \u2014 the photo had been altered with the tech giant\u2019s generative AI tools. (Google declined to comment.)<\/p>\n In response to questions about the altered photo, a spokesperson for the White House referred The Intercept to a tweet<\/a> from White House spokesperson Kaelan Dorr lashing out at \u201cthe people who feel the need to reflexively defend perpetrators of heinous crimes in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEnforcement of the law will continue,\u201d wrote Dorr. \u201cThe memes will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The original, unaltered image showing Levy Armstrong looking stalwart first appeared on the web in a\u00a0pair<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0tweets<\/a>\u00a0by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to several image search engine tools.<\/p>\n About a half hour later, the White House posted its altered image showing Levy Armstrong in tears \u2014 including text labeling her as a \u201cfar-left agitator\u201d and accusing her of \u201corchestrating church riots.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House X account appears to have been the first place the altered image appeared on the web, according to the image search tools.<\/p>\n Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Levy Armstrong\u2019s arrest on Thursday. Along with Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly, Levy Armstrong faces charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a 1994 law designed to limit anti-abortion protesters from impeding patients<\/a> from seeking care.\u00a0<\/p>\n The arrests followed days of outrage online from the right over a protest on Sunday in which anti-ICE demonstrators entered the Cities Church, where a local ICE official serves as a pastor,\u00a0according to The Associated Press.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cReligious freedom is the bedrock of this country,\u201d Bondi wrote on X Thursday. \u201cWe will protect our pastors. We will protect our churches. We will protect Americans of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n