Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong released video of her arrest Friday, contradicting a manipulated image the White House posted on X the previous day. The White House image showed Armstrong crying with her hands behind her back, with a caption identifying her as an ‘Arrested far-left agitator’ who had ‘orchestrated church riots in Minnesota.’ Armstrong’s unedited seven-minute video, shot by her husband, presents a starkly different account of her Thursday arrest during an anti-immigration enforcement protest at a Minneapolis church.
The case illustrates tensions between government-distributed imagery and documentation released directly by subjects of federal law enforcement actions, and raises questions about the accuracy of official representations of protest activity.
The White House and Image Manipulation
The White House posted the image on X on Thursday, the day of Armstrong’s arrest. The photo showed Armstrong with her eyes closed and tears visible, hands restrained behind her back. Beneath it, the caption stated in all capital letters: “Arrested far-left agitator Nekima Levy Armstrong for orchestrating church riots in Minnesota.”
A separate image posted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s official account showed the identical photograph, but with Armstrong’s expression markedly different — neutral rather than tearful.
Armstrong’s Counter-Narrative
Armstrong released video footage Friday shot by her husband, Marques Armstrong, that captured a substantially different account of her arrest. The footage spans more than seven minutes and shows federal agents approaching and handcuffing Armstrong as she stood calmly.
“I’m asking you to please treat me with dignity and respect,” Armstrong said to the agents in the video.
“We have to put you in handcuffs,” one agent responded. Another agent held up a phone and began recording.
Armstrong questioned the agents about their recording. “Why are you recording? I would ask that you not record,” she said.
An agent filming the arrest replied: “It’s not going to be on Twitter. It’s not going to be on anything like that. We don’t want to create a false narrative.”
Throughout the video, Armstrong maintains a composed demeanor. She does not cry. Instead, she engages directly with the agents about the circumstances of her arrest.
“You know that this is a significant abuse of power,” Armstrong told the agents. “Because I refuse to be silent in the face of brutality from ICE.”
“I’m not in here to get in a political debate,” the agent filming responded.
Armstrong’s Claims
In an audio message shared with the Associated Press on Friday morning, recorded during a call from jail, Armstrong stated that the video evidence demonstrated manipulation by the Trump administration.
“We are being politically persecuted for speaking out against authoritarianism, fascism and the tyranny of the Trump administration,” Armstrong said in the message.
Armstrong was arrested along with at least two others during the Thursday protest at the church, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official serves as a pastor. Chauntyll Allen, a St. Paul school board member also arrested during the protest, was released Friday alongside Armstrong, according to a statement from Armstrong’s organization, the Racial Justice Network. Their attorneys declined to comment.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the imagery or the video.