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Bill McCarthy

@billmccarthy.bsky.social

Senior digital investigation journalist covering online mis- and disinformation for AFP • Formerly with PolitiFact and the Raleigh News & Observer • Duke alum • “The internet folks” - Stephen Colbert https://factcheck.afp.com/Bill-MCCARTHY

35,282 Followers  |  1,022 Following  |  526 Posts  |  Joined: 08.11.2024  |  1.8408

Latest posts by billmccarthy.bsky.social on Bluesky

The Trump administration faced intensifying pressure Sunday over its mass immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, after federal agents shot dead a second US citizen and graphic cell phone footage again contradicted officials' immediate description of the incident. u.afp.com/SBLz

25.01.2026 21:28 — 👍 48    🔁 18    💬 4    📌 3
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Fact check: Federal officials’ claims about fatal Minneapolis shooting A review of statements by Greg Bovino and Kristi Noem finds several assertions unverified or contradicted by video and witness accounts.

A review of statements by Greg Bovino and Kristi Noem finds several assertions unverified or contradicted by video and witness accounts.

25.01.2026 13:32 — 👍 406    🔁 138    💬 53    📌 18
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Federal immigration agents shot dead a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, in the second fatal shooting of a civilian during the Trump administration's controversial operation in the city, sparking fresh protests and outrage from state officials.

24.01.2026 20:16 — 👍 29    🔁 15    💬 5    📌 6
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This image, supposedly showing an anti-ICE statement lit up in the Chicago skyline, is altered.

The original photo shows the skyscraper's windows, in a nod to the Chicago Bears during their recent NFL playoff run, simply saying: "Bear Down."

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

21.01.2026 21:55 — 👍 12    🔁 5    💬 1    📌 0

🌬️Reposting our latest piece on Trump's extremely wrong takes on China's wind power sector -- and just wind turbines in general: u.afp.com/Chinawind

21.01.2026 16:37 — 👍 17    🔁 14    💬 0    📌 0
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FBI opened probe on Minneapolis shooting; none exists now, Justice Dept. says After the death of Renée Good in Minneapolis, FBI agents launched a civil rights probe into the shooting. The Justice Department says no such case now exists.

An FBI agent conducted an initial review of the Renee Good killing and determined sufficient grounds existed to open a civil rights probe into the actions of the ICE officer who shot her. Justice Department says no inquiry is warranted. @perrystein.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

19.01.2026 18:59 — 👍 7229    🔁 2994    💬 230    📌 146
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This is a fake photo, created by combining a photo of Barack Obama letting a young Black boy touch his hair with an unrelated picture of Iran's supreme leader.

The two never met in person.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

16.01.2026 18:43 — 👍 23    🔁 8    💬 1    📌 3
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Analysing One Federal Agent’s Use of Less-Lethal Launcher in Minneapolis After the fatal shooting of Renee Good, Border Patrol agent "EZ-17" was filmed shooting less-lethal munitions at protesters five times in five minutes.

Just hours after Renee Good was shot, one member of Customs and Border Patrol’s elite tactical team on an adjacent street fired a less-lethal weapon five times in less than five minutes, with four shots aimed at the faces of protestors. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/01...

16.01.2026 16:49 — 👍 1100    🔁 627    💬 37    📌 47
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This image claimed to show Renee Good mocking Charlie Kirk's assassination is spreading online in posts calling it "karma" that an ICE agent fatally shot her.

It is a fake, with her head edited on the body of another woman who made the gesture at an October rally.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

15.01.2026 21:45 — 👍 34    🔁 12    💬 2    📌 0
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Video Analysis of ICE Shooting Sheds Light on Contested Moments

A new video analysis from the New York Times examines several camera angles of an ICE agent's fatal shooting of Renee Good.

"The visual evidence shows no indication that the agent who fired the shots, Jonathan Ross, had been run over," the Times reports.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/v...

16.01.2026 17:58 — 👍 19    🔁 5    💬 1    📌 1
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MAGA Thinks Maduro Will Prove Trump Won in 2020 The capture of the Venezuelan leader has revived a debunked conspiracy theory.

Nicolás Maduro’s capture is stirring long-dead conspiracy theories about the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez reports.

14.01.2026 02:09 — 👍 14    🔁 7    💬 6    📌 2
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Other posts are sharing an AI-generated video portraying Renee Good and her wife mocking Charlie Kirk's killing before she was fatally shot by an ICE agent.

The fake, which gave Becca Good two thumbs, is a manipulation of a photo where they were smiling.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

15.01.2026 22:03 — 👍 9    🔁 5    💬 2    📌 0
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This image claimed to show Renee Good mocking Charlie Kirk's assassination is spreading online in posts calling it "karma" that an ICE agent fatally shot her.

It is a fake, with her head edited on the body of another woman who made the gesture at an October rally.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

15.01.2026 21:45 — 👍 34    🔁 12    💬 2    📌 0
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Some of the extremist discourse on the far-right message board 4chan regarding ICE's operations in Minneapolis. Warning: violent and explicit language.

15.01.2026 21:24 — 👍 9    🔁 4    💬 1    📌 0
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AI-created Iran protest videos gain traction AI-generated videos purportedly depicting protests in Iran have flooded the web, researchers said Wednesday, as social media users push hyper-realistic deepfakes to fill an information void amid the…

"Anti-regime X and TikTok users in the United States also posted AI videos depicting Iranian protesters symbolically renaming local streets after President Donald Trump." www.france24.com/en/live-news...

15.01.2026 15:10 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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For years, Nikolay Gentchev has been asked: “You’re not dead, are you?”

Meet the Bulgarian mechanic who keeps getting "killed off" by pro-Russian propaganda sites, his photo shared alongside claims he was burned alive by a Ukrainian mob in Odesa in 2014.

www.digitaljournal.com/tech-science...

15.01.2026 14:56 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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This anonymous X account has repeatedly spread misinformation about US protests over the shooting by an ICE agent of a Minnesota woman.

These three videos, all falsely claimed to show recent US demonstrations, were in fact taken in Minneapolis in 2020, Los Angeles in June and Greece in November.

14.01.2026 22:02 — 👍 37    🔁 16    💬 3    📌 1
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This video is spreading in posts falsely claiming it shows protests against Donald Trump's policies after the fatal shooting by an ICE agent of a Minnesota woman.

The clip actually shows Waymo taxis torched during demonstrations in Los Angeles in June.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

14.01.2026 21:55 — 👍 23    🔁 9    💬 4    📌 0
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This video of Molotov cocktails is spreading widely online as some posts claim it shows the United States and others say it was filmed in Iran.

The truth: it is neither. The clip is from November and captures violent clashes after a concert in Greece.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

14.01.2026 21:21 — 👍 29    🔁 14    💬 1    📌 0
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This video, depicting a man saying he is receiving an hourly wage to protest against ICE after an agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, is AI-generated.

The fake has spread despite its Sora watermark.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

13.01.2026 20:32 — 👍 81    🔁 35    💬 2    📌 3
Looking at AI: Viral AI Maduro image creator "never expected" millions of views
YouTube video by AFP News Agency Looking at AI: Viral AI Maduro image creator "never expected" millions of views

Our video on how an X account with fewer than 100 followers created an AI-generated image of Nicolas Maduro that went so viral the White House shared it.
www.youtube.com/shorts/JP4VB...

14.01.2026 14:32 — 👍 8    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
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This anonymous X account has repeatedly spread misinformation about US protests over the shooting by an ICE agent of a Minnesota woman.

These three videos, all falsely claimed to show recent US demonstrations, were in fact taken in Minneapolis in 2020, Los Angeles in June and Greece in November.

14.01.2026 22:02 — 👍 37    🔁 16    💬 3    📌 1
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This video is spreading in posts falsely claiming it shows protests against Donald Trump's policies after the fatal shooting by an ICE agent of a Minnesota woman.

The clip actually shows Waymo taxis torched during demonstrations in Los Angeles in June.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

14.01.2026 21:55 — 👍 23    🔁 9    💬 4    📌 0
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This video of Molotov cocktails is spreading widely online as some posts claim it shows the United States and others say it was filmed in Iran.

The truth: it is neither. The clip is from November and captures violent clashes after a concert in Greece.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

14.01.2026 21:21 — 👍 29    🔁 14    💬 1    📌 0
Looking at AI: Viral AI Maduro image creator "never expected" millions of views
YouTube video by AFP News Agency Looking at AI: Viral AI Maduro image creator "never expected" millions of views

Our video on how an X account with fewer than 100 followers created an AI-generated image of Nicolas Maduro that went so viral the White House shared it.
www.youtube.com/shorts/JP4VB...

14.01.2026 14:32 — 👍 8    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
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Trump administration's posts echo rhetoric linked to extremist groups Just weeks into the new year, the Trump administration has rolled out a campaign across departments that draws on images and ideas borrowed from right-wing and white nationalist circles. Liz Landers r...

The Trump administration has rolled out a campaign across departments that draws on images and ideas borrowed from right-wing and white nationalist circles. https://to.pbs.org/45GW3I9

13.01.2026 03:40 — 👍 249    🔁 137    💬 26    📌 17
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This video, depicting a man saying he is receiving an hourly wage to protest against ICE after an agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, is AI-generated.

The fake has spread despite its Sora watermark.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

13.01.2026 20:32 — 👍 81    🔁 35    💬 2    📌 3
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This widely shared image purports to show an aerial view of Renee Good's car before an immigration agent fatally shot her, but it is AI-generated.

The fake is also visually inconsistent from verified footage of the incident in several ways.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

13.01.2026 18:59 — 👍 34    🔁 8    💬 1    📌 1
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We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing Civilians have had apparent seizures. One had his eyes roll back. Another had ribs broken. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said a 16-year-old citizen put in a chokehold. The government ...

We showed former police and immigration officials videos of agents using chokeholds and other moves that can block breathing. They said agents are out of control. One said it’s “the kind of action which should get you fired.” @nicolefoy.bsky.social @mckenziefunk.com

13.01.2026 13:15 — 👍 118    🔁 73    💬 5    📌 1
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This video of a building engulfed in flames is being misrepresented online as a scene from protests in Minneapolis after a US immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good last week.

The footage was captured after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

12.01.2026 22:01 — 👍 19    🔁 7    💬 5    📌 0

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