Did Anyone Edit This “Trump 2020” Image? My Findings

Quick Overview

The image circulating online, allegedly showing the Michigan church shooter with his family and a prominent 2020 Trump campaign shirt, is confirmed to be digitally altered, as the shirt graphic was added years after the original photo was taken in September 2019, according to analysis aligning environmental factors and metadata.

Key Points: The image showing the Michigan church shooter with his family and a "Make Liberals Cry Again 2020" shirt was found to be digitally altered, likely by a Facebook insider. The original photo was posted on Facebook on September 12, 2019, which predates the 2020 election campaign merchandise. Visual analysis of the photo, including sunlight direction, shadows, and the bridge cables in the background, shows inconsistencies suggesting tampering or digital insertion of elements. The analyst rates the odds of the image being altered to promote a narrative as "very unlikely" (05-20% chance of being genuine) based on Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 203 standards. The subject was a 40-year-old former Marine who died in a gunfight with police following the incident at a Michigan church. The video later transitions to advertising merchandise from BunkerBranding.com related to military themes, contrasting with the main subject matter. The analyst uses ICD 203 guidelines to assess the probability of the image being fabricated for political persuasion.

Context: The video addresses the authenticity of a photograph purportedly showing the suspect in a Michigan church shooting, where he allegedly wore a camouflage shirt featuring a graphic supporting the 2020 Trump presidential campaign, reading "Make Liberals Cry Again." The presenter, SFC Ryan McBeth (ret), an intelligence analyst, investigates the image by comparing environmental details, metadata, and the context of the shooter's known background to determine if the politically charged apparel was photoshopped into the picture.

Detailed Analysis

The video investigates the veracity of a widely circulated photo purporting to show the Michigan church shooter, who died in a confrontation with police, wearing a 2020 Trump campaign shirt reading "Make Liberals Cry Again." The presenter, Ryan McBeth, immediately states that the image is likely photoshopped. He points out that the original post on Facebook was dated September 12, 2019, which predates the 2020 election merchandise. McBeth performs a visual analysis, noting that the lighting, shadows, and the appearance of the Mackinac Bridge in the background do not align perfectly, suggesting digital manipulation. Applying the Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 203 standards for expressing likelihood, he assesses the probability that the image was genuinely taken as "very unlikely" (05-20% range). He suggests that someone working at Facebook might have altered the image after the fact to plant political persuasion or link the suspect to a specific political affiliation, noting that while the metadata is stripped by Facebook, the visual inconsistencies are strong indicators of tampering. The video concludes by pivoting to advertise military-themed merchandise from BunkerBranding.com.