DeepfakeHigh
Purportedly AI-Altered Images Reportedly Distort Evidence After Minneapolis Shooting of ICU Nurse Alex Pretti
- Occurred
- Jan 24, 2026
- Published
- Jan 25, 2026
- Source
- AI Incident Database
Summary
Following the fatal shooting of Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, social media accounts reportedly circulated images purported to have been altered by AI, reportedly distorting evidence of the incident by portraying Pretti as threatening law enforcement and altering the presence of weapons. The images reportedly misidentified individuals and helped reinforce partisan narratives by purportedly obscuring verified video and eyewitness accounts.
Developers
Deployers
- Pro-Trump social media influencers
- Unidentified social media users
- Partisan online accounts
- Information manipulation actors
Harmed parties
- Alex Pretti
- Family of Alex Pretti
- Epistemic integrity
Classification
Category confidence: 90%
Severity confidence: 85%
Rationale: AI-altered images distorted evidence in a fatal shooting case, causing significant public harm and legal implications.
Classifier: Qwen/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-FP8