Is there a photograph of David Easterwood the ICE agent
Executive summary
There are publicly available photographs and video images identified as David Easterwood in his role as acting Field Office Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and images of a man named David Easterwood appearing as a pastor at Cities Church — news organizations and archives have published stills and footage that have been compared and circulated online [1] [2] [3]. Reporting diverges on whether those images definitively prove the pastor and the ICE official are the same individual: some outlets report matching personal details and visual comparisons, while others note the claim originally rested primarily on name and look-alike photo comparisons [4] [3].
1. Public photos and video of “David Easterwood” in his ICE role exist
Mainstream outlets and archival sources show Easterwood appearing publicly as the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office: C-SPAN lists a David Easterwood entry and video appearances from a 2025 news conference, and national outlets have published photographs from ICE or press events in which he is identified [1] [5]. CNN’s story about the St. Paul church protests included an image attribution to Getty Images of federal operations in the region and described Easterwood’s public filings and press appearances; ABC News and other outlets likewise cited his statements in court filings and public events, indicating journalists have had material to illustrate stories about him [5] [4].
2. Screengrabs and portraits of a Cities Church pastor named David Easterwood have circulated
Local reporting and activist footage captured and distributed stills of a Cities Church pastor listed on the congregation’s website as David Easterwood; activists and some local outlets posted screengrabs from church livestreams showing a man identified as a Cities Church pastor [2] [6]. Protest livestreams and local coverage documented those images being used by demonstrators asserting a link between the congregation and the ICE official [2] [7].
3. Media and social platforms compared the images — and that comparison fueled protests and debate
Social media posts comparing side-by-side images of the ICE official and the Cities Church pastor appear to have driven public attention and protests; multiple outlets reported viral posts that juxtaposed the two images and cited apparent facial similarities as the basis for allegations that the pastor and the ICE field office director were the same person [3] [8]. The viral comparisons were prominent enough that outlets from local papers to national networks recounted them while covering the protests and related DOJ inquiry [6] [5].
4. Journalistic and factual nuance: “Is there a photograph?” versus “Is it the same person?”
Answering the narrow factual question — whether a photograph of David Easterwood, the ICE official, exists — is straightforward: yes, there are photographs and video of an ICE official identified as David Easterwood in public archives and news coverage [1] [5]. However, reporting diverges about whether those images definitively match the Cities Church pastor: some news reports say the church website lists a David Easterwood and that biographical details “appear to match” the ICE official identified in court filings [4], while other pieces caution that early online claims rested mainly on shared name and visual comparisons, not independent verification linking every image to the same person [3] [8].
5. What reporting does not establish and why it matters
Available sources document the existence of images tied to the name “David Easterwood” in both ICE and church contexts and show those images were compared publicly, but the assembled reporting stops short of presenting a single, government-issued ID photo or a definitive, independently verified dossier that resolves every dispute raised on social platforms; where outlets conclude a match, they do so based on publicly available biographical matches and visual comparisons rather than a released agency mugshot or explicit personnel file made public in the stories cited here [4] [3]. That gap explains why some outlets and activists proceed as if the identities are identical while others — and fact-checkers noted in coverage — urge caution about claims built mainly on name and resemblance [3] [8].