Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Secret Service officers seen smiling following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Fact
Photograph found to be digitally manipulated.
Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. The former US President suffered ear injury after shots were opened during his public address, and he was rushed off the stage by the Secret Service officers. Soon after the incident, multiple social media users shared a photograph showing the Secret Service officers having broad smiles while whisking Trump off the stage. Newschecker, however, found the photograph to be digitally manipulated.
Since the assassination attempt on Trump, the photograph has been widely shared on Facebook and X with users questioning “why the Secret Service officers were smiling?” Multiple others sharing the image further insinuated the entire incident to be a “Photo Op.”
Such posts can be seen here, here, here, here and here.
Also Read: Viral Video Of US President Joe Biden Talking About Magical Pistachio Is Actually Deepfake
Fact Check/Verification
A Google lens search on the viral image led us to a report by CNBC, dated July 13, 2024. Carrying a photograph similar to the viral image, it stated, “Photographers captured former President Donald Trump with thin streaks of blood on his face as he was rushed away by Secret Service members after shots were fired while he was onstage at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.”
The image was credited to one Evan Vucci via Associated Press (AP).
On comparing the viral image with the photograph featured in the CNBC report, we found them to be identical – except for the facial expressions of the Secret Service personnels holding Trump.
The actual image can also be seen in an article by The Guardian interviewing photographer Evan Vucci following the incident. “I heard the shots. So I ran to the stage as the Secret Service agents were starting to cover President Trump up. They were coming up on the stage from all different directions, and they were going on top of him. I went to the front, side of the stage and I started photographing everything I could,” Vucci was quoted as saying. There is no mention of the Secret Service personnel visibly smiling after the assassination attempt.
We found the same image of the AP Newsroom website. It, too, did not show the Secret Service personnel smiling after the shootout, as widely claimed. The original image can be seen here.
The website featured multiple images by Vucci showing the Secret Service officers whisking away Trump from the stage after the shootout. None of them showed them smiling.
Evan Vucci also shared some of these images on his official Instagram account. The same can be seen below.
Hence, the viral image showing the Secret Service officers smiling after the assassination attempt at former US President Donald Trump has been digitally manipulated.
Online Tools Enable Changing Of Facial Expressions In Photographs
Notably, multiple online services, including AI-based tools such as this and this, can help users change the facial expressions of the human subjects in a photograph.
Newschecker tried changing the facial expressions of the Secret Service officers and Trump using an application called FaceApp (for demonstration purpose only), and found the results similar to the viral photograph.
During the wrestlers’ protest against the former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year, a photograph showing Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat smiling after detention was found to be edited in a similar manner. Our full fact check can be seen here.
Conclusion
We could thus conclude that the viral photograph showing US Secret Service officers smiling after the assassination attempt at Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania has been digitally manipulated.
Result: Altered Photo
Sources
Report By CNBC, Dated July 13, 2024
Report By The Guardian, Dated July 15, 2024
AP Website
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
