The hours A federal agent wearing a disguise shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. She was 37 years old. social media users Have you been sharing? AI-altered images False claims “unmask” The officer then revealed their true identity. Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, later identified the agent as an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
On Wednesday morning the shooting took place. social media footage of the scene Two federal agents are masked as they approach an SUV that is parked on the side of a road, in a suburban area south of Minneapolis. One officer seems to be asking the driver of the SUV to leave the vehicle, before taking the handle of the front door. The driver then appears to reverse before continuing forwards and turning. Standing near the front, a third federal officer, masked, draws a weapon and shoots the vehicle. Good is killed.
After the shooting no videos were shared by social media that showed masked ICE Agents without their masks. Within hours after the shooting, images of an unmasked ICE agent started to circulate on the Internet.
Images appear to be screen shots taken from actual footage but have been altered using artificial intelligence to produce the officer’s facial features.
WIRED analyzed AI-altered versions of images shared by the unmasked agents on all major social media platforms including X Facebook Threads Instagram BlueSky TikTok. “We need his name,” Claude Taylor is the founder of Mad Dog PAC (anti-Trump Mad Dog PAC). wrote A post by X featured an AI altered image of the Agent. Over 1.2million people have viewed the post. Taylor didn’t respond to our request for a comment.
There is a thread called “On Threads” on the site. “Influencer_Queeen” The agent posted a photo of himself that was AI-altered and wrote, “Let’s get his address. But only focus on HIM. Not his kids.” It has received almost 3,500 likes.
“AI-powered enhancement has a tendency to hallucinate facial details leading to an enhanced image that may be visually clear, but that may also be devoid of reality with respect to biometric identification,” Hany Farid is a professor at UC-Berkeley who in the past has been involved with such projects. studied AI’s ability to enhance facial imagesWIRED reports that. “In this situation where half of the face is obscured, AI, or any other technique, is not, in my opinion, able to accurately reconstruct the facial identity.”
Several people who shared these images claimed without proof to be able to identify the agent. In some cases they provided names of actual people, and links to social media accounts.
WIRED confirms that there are two names circulating which don’t seem to be connected with anyone at ICE. Many of the images shared on social media have received little engagement. However, a few have attracted a significant amount.
Steve Grove was previously employed by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and worked as the publisher, CEO, and president of Minnesota Star Tribune. “We are currently monitoring a coordinated online disinformation campaign incorrectly identifying the ICE agent involved in yesterday’s shooting,” Chris Iles is the vice president for communications of Star Tribune. “To be clear, the ICE agent has no known affiliation with the Minnesota Star Tribune and is certainly not our publisher and CEO Steve Grove.”
It’s not the first instance that AI caused problems in the aftermath of a shooting. In September, a similar problem arose when Charlie Kirk was killed A grainy footage of the law enforcement agency was used to create an AI-altered picture of the shooter. shared widely online. The AI’s image did not resemble the actual man, captured by police and accused of Kirk’s death.
