Is a video showing ICE agents chase a man, who is sitting in an office chair covered by a large hand "giving the middle finger," down a Minneapolis street real? No, that's not true: The short video originated on social media accounts that acknowledge all of its content is AI-generated. There is no reporting, including on Fox 9, the Minneapolis TV channel where the chase was purportedly broadcast live, that it was an actual event.
The video appeared in a post (archived here) published by the Strange AI Facebook page on January 29, 2026 under a caption that read:
Video from downtown Minneapolis shows ICE agents in pursuit during a protest, but the situation quickly turns surreal.
Some call it protest humor. Others call it disrespectful.
Either way -- people can't stop watching.
#minneapolis #protest #news #viralvideo #unexpected
This is what the first frame of the video looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
This is the video as posted (archived here) on the Strange AI Instagram account:
The video's creator makes no secret of its artificial origins. The Strange AI account description on both Facebook and Instagram reads:
I'm the creator of @StrangeAI
Follow me if you want to see a mixture of strange, unusual, and comedy! ❤️
My content is all AI generated and edited by me.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
Even without the disclosure, there are signs the video is not real. You can see about four seconds into the video that one of the purported agents walks through a car door mirror without resistance.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook)
The video was not posted on the Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul News website (archived here) or YouTube page (archived here)
The Strange AI creator did not immediately respond to a Lead Stories inquiry asking what tool he used to make the video.
