In an embarrassing effort to demonize federal immigration enforcement at a time when violence against them is at disturbingly high levels, a Democrat representative used an AI-altered image during a congressional hearing as he misrepresented Alex Pretti’s death.
Radical leftist activist Pretti had already committed a felony by trying to interfere with federal immigration enforcement before his armed clash with Border Patrol that resulted in his death last month. Ever since then, Democrats have been trying to frame the serial offender as an innocent and loving victim of federal brutality. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) went so far as to display an image that had been altered by artificial intelligence. In fact, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) previously caused controversy by using the image, which his office later admitted had been edited.
Thompson put up the image during a congressional hearing on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other Homeland Security operations on Tuesday. He showed the photo while brazenly accusing the DHS of lying about Pretti’s death in a self-satirization that would be laughable if it were not part of a campaign to fuel violence against ICE and Border Patrol.
While the image is a real one from footage of the shooting that was subsequently touched up with AI, what this really highlights is Thompson’s dishonesty. He did not explain that the image was altered and instead focused on extreme rhetoric against federal officials and officers. The image is just one small part of his over-the-top campaign to smear ICE and Border Patrol. That is why he deserves to be hammered.
Another interesting fact that Thompson did not mention is that the touched-up image appears to show Pretti drawing something out of his waistband. Democrats have ignored accusations that Pretti drew a gun during the shooting. Could this image actually undermine Democrats' rhetoric rather than support it, even after the image was touched up?
Rep. Bennie Thompson uses an AI-generated image of Alex Pretti's death during a hearing pic.twitter.com/hUq9hDQIpC
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 10, 2026
Death threats against ICE are up by 8,000%, and assaults on them are up by 1,347%. Thompson’s mockery of evidence with the AI-altered photo is thoroughly irresponsible in this political climate, especially since he accused a federal officer of “cheering” Pretti’s death. “Americans watched the video in horror,” Thompson pontificated.
Related: Judge Stops California From Un-Masking ICE Agents Amid Increased Dem Violence
Rusty Weiss explained for RedState:
First, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) originally shared the image on the Senate floor last month. He's simply re-spreading the disinformation. Second, Thompson, who famously chaired the Select Committee investigating a relatively mundane protest at the Capitol years ago, allowed altered evidence to be circulated during that committee's hearings…Durbin's office claimed ignorance, saying the image had only been "slightly edited."
At the time of his death, Pretti — as video of the incident shows — had repeatedly and violently assaulted Border Patrol officers, including one assault that was an attempt to interfere with an arrest of another protester. It is against federal law to interfere with the operations of federal immigration officers, and also, of course, to assault those officers (e.g., 18 U.S. Code § 111).
This is important context that Thompson left out, and he obviously wants to suppress as much as possible, even if he needs to use altered images to do so.
During the hearing, Thompson ranted, “Secretary Noem is a liar with no concern for the lives of Americans killed by the department she runs. She must go.” He raved further, with the AI-altered image behind him, that her explanation of Pretti’s death was “demonstrably false.” But the truly heartless liar with demonstrably false “evidence” is Thompson himself.
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