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In hours After a masked federal agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Goode, a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, Social media users Shared Artificial intelligence modified images They falsely claim to have “unmasked” the officer and revealed their true identity. The agent was later identified by Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
The shooting happened on Wednesday morning Social media shots of the scene It shows two masked federal agents approaching an SUV parked in the middle of the road in a suburb south of downtown Minneapolis. One of the officers appears to ask the driver to get out of the car before grabbing the door handle. At this point, the driver appears to be reversing, before driving forward and turning. A third masked federal officer, standing near the front of the car, draws his gun and shoots into the car, killing Judd.
Videos of the incident posted on social media in the moments following the shooting did not include any footage of any of the masked ICE agents with their masks removed. However, multiple photos showing an unmasked agent began circulating online within hours of the shooting.
The images appear to be snapshots of actual video footage, but were modified using artificial intelligence tools to create the officer’s face.
WIRED reviewed several AI-edited images of the unmasked worker that were shared on every major social media platform, including X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram, BlueSky, and TikTok. “We need his name,” said Claude Taylor, founder of the anti-Trump Mad Dog PAC. books In a post on X showing the agent’s image modified by AI. The post has been viewed more than 1.2 million times. Taylor did not respond to a request for comment.
On Threads, an account called “Influencer_Queen” posted an AI-edited photo of the client and wrote: “Let’s get his address. But just focus on him. Not his kids.” This post has been liked about 3,500 times.
“AI-powered enhancement tends to hallucinate facial details resulting in an enhanced image that may be visually clear, but may also be devoid of reality in terms of biometric identification,” said Hani Farid, a UC Berkeley professor who has in the past He studied the ability of artificial intelligence to improve facial images“In this case where half the face is obscured, AI, or any other technology, is not able, in my opinion, to accurately reconstruct facial identity,” Wired says.
Some of the people who posted the photos also claimed, without evidence, to have identified the client, shared the names of real people, and, in a number of cases, provided links to those people’s social media accounts.
WIRED has confirmed that two of the names circulating do not appear to be immediately linked to anyone associated with ICE. While many posts sharing these AI images have limited engagement, some have gained significant traction.
One name that has been shared online without evidence is Steve Grove, CEO and publisher of the Minnesota Star Tribune, who previously worked in Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration. “We are currently monitoring a coordinated online disinformation campaign that incorrectly identifies the ICE agent involved in yesterday’s shooting,” Chris Iles, vice president of communications for the Star Tribune, told WIRED. “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.”
This isn’t the first time AI has caused problems in the wake of a shooting. A similar situation arose in September when Charlie Kirk was killed It was an AI-altered image of the shooter, based on grainy video footage released by law enforcement It was shared widely online. The image of the AI doesn’t look like the man who was eventually arrested and charged with Kirk’s murder.