Does a viral video show a real robbery attempt of a pregnant woman on the New York City subway? No, that's not true: The video contains hallmark signs of AI. Three online detectors confirmed that the clip is a product of generative AI.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X by @princeayyo on June 29, 2026. The caption read:
A Homeless One-Armed Veteran Risks His Life to Protect a Pregnant Woman! 🎬🔥
This is what the thumbnail image from the video attached to the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @princeayyo on X.)
The four-minute clip purports to show a man trying to steal a pregnant woman's purse. As they struggle, the attacker pushes the woman off the platform and onto the tracks. An older man rushes to rescue her, fights the attacker and pulls the woman back on the platform moments before the train arrives.
Robberies happen (archived here) on the New York City subway, but the video reviewed in this fact check did not document a real one.
In New York City, the name of the station would appear on the platform's walls (archived here), in the middle of the platform (archived here) and on the tiled or green columns (archived here), if there are any. But in the video, the station's name was nowhere to be found.
Edge barriers (archived here) installed at many stations don't appear in the frame, either.
And the train lacks a typical identifier, a number or a letter used in the NYC transit system (archived here):
(Image source: post by @princeayyo on X.)
As the train approaches the station, we see how the columns at the opposite platform change their color from green to white:
(Image source: post by @princeayyo on X.)
(Image source: post by @princeayyo on X.)
We can also spot a sign that looks nothing like the ones used on the New York subway (archived here):
(Image source: post by @princeayyo on X.)
Furthermore, tracks without plastic bottles and food waste appear unrealistically pristine for the city where rats get caught on camera (archived here) fighting on subway tracks for half a bagel.
Finally, in several frames, the supposed wounded "vet" grows his left arm back for a second at a time:
(Image source: post by @princeayyo on X.)
Also, had this been real footage taken by a bystander, it wouldn't have cinematic qualities such as apparent cuts between wide shots and close-ups, along with color correction.
Lead Stories additionally tested the video's thumbnail image, and three online detectors -- Hive Moderation, Sightengine and InVID -- concluded that the odds of it being generated by AI were between 97% and 99.8%:
(Image source: Hive Moderation.)
(Image source: Sightengine.)
(Image source: InVID.)
