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A Minnesota activist who was charged for her role in an anti-immigration enforcement protest at a church released her own video of her arrest Friday after the White House posted a manipulated image online.<\/p>\n
The White House on Thursday posted a\u00a0picture\u00a0on its X page of civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong crying with her hands behind her back as she was escorted by a blurred person wearing a badge. The photo was captioned in all caps: \u201cArrested far-left agitator Nekima Levy Armstrong for orchestrating church riots in Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n
A photo posted by Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem\u2019s account showed the same image with Levy Armstrong wearing a neutral expression.<\/p>\n
Levy Armstrong, who\u00a0was arrested\u00a0with at least two others Thursday for an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a church where an ICE official also serves as a pastor, released her own video. Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen, a St. Paul school board member who was also arrested in connection to the protest, were both released Friday, according to a post by Levy Armstrong\u2019s organization, the Racial Justice Network. Their attorneys declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The video shot by Levy Armstrong\u2019s husband, Marques Armstrong, shows several federal agents approaching to arrest her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m asking you to please treat me with dignity and respect,\u201d she said to the agents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to put you in handcuffs,\u201d one agent said, while another held up a phone and appeared to record a video.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you recording?\u201d Levy Armstrong asked. \u201cI would ask that you not record.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be on Twitter,\u201d the agent filming said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be on anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to create a false narrative,\u201d the agent said.<\/p>\n
At no point in the more than seven-minute video \u2014 which shows Levy Armstrong being handcuffed and led into a government vehicle \u2014 did Levy Armstrong appear to cry. Instead, she talked with agents about her arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know that this is a significant abuse of power,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I refuse to be silent in the face of brutality from ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not in here to get in a political debate,\u201d the agent filming said.<\/p>\n
In an audio message that Levy Armstrong\u2019s spokesperson shared with The Associated Press, Levy Armstrong said the video of her arrest exposes that the Trump administration had used AI to manipulate images of her arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are being politically persecuted for speaking out against authoritarianism, fascism and the tyranny of the Trump administration,\u201d said Levy Armstrong, who recorded the message Friday morning during a call with her husband from jail.<\/p>\n
The Department of Homeland Security didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press reporters Giovanna Dell\u2019Orto in Minneapolis and Tiffany Stanley in Washington, D.C., contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Minnesota #activist #released #catches #White #House #manipulating #images #arrest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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