Are the photos of Minneapolis couple coming home from basketball game but shown at protest real
Executive summary
Available reporting shows multiple, separate accounts of Minneapolis residents saying they were caught in protests — including a family who said they were coming from a child’s basketball game and tear-gassed (CNN) and a retired married couple who sued after being stopped near an ICE vehicle (The New York Times) — but there is no public, forensic confirmation in the reporting that specific photos circulating online that purport to show “the couple coming home from a basketball game” were authenticated as those people at that moment [1] [2].
1. The claim and why it spread
The central claim analyzed here is that a photographed couple shown in online posts were actually ordinary Minneapolis residents returning from a child’s basketball game and were mischaracterized as protesters or agitators; that narrative circulated after local clashes between federal immigration agents and demonstrators when accounts surfaced of civilians — including one family claiming they had been tear-gassed after leaving a basketball game — caught in the chaos [1] [3].
2. What reputable outlets reported about the “basketball game” family
Major outlets reported a family’s account that they left a youth basketball game and then found themselves trapped between protesters and federal agents, with the mother saying she performed CPR on an infant after tear gas exposure; CNN and other local stations published that family’s statements and medical concerns about a 6‑month‑old’s breathing difficulties [1] [3] [4]. Those stories focused on eyewitness testimony and medical claims rather than on photo provenance.
3. Separate reporting about a different married couple at protests
The New York Times documented a different married, retired Minneapolis couple who followed an ICE vehicle and later brought litigation after agents pointed weapons at them and allegedly violated their civil rights; a federal judge found the couple had a likelihood of success on some claims—this reporting and the “basketball game” family accounts are distinct incidents in the record [2].
4. Photos released by authorities and media context
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released photos of people it called agitators arrested during protests, and news organizations published many images from demonstrations around the Bishop Whipple Federal Building; those official and media photos show protesters and detainees but do not, in the reporting provided, single out or forensically tie a named Minneapolis couple who said they were returning from a basketball game to a specific protest photograph circulating online [5] [6].
5. Contradictions, skepticism and motives in the coverage
Tabloid outlets ran pieces questioning the credibility or past conduct of people who made tear‑gas claims, illustrating how partisan or sensational outlets can shift focus from the factual question of what a photo shows to motivations and character attacks [7]. At the same time, federal authorities and some politicians framed released images to justify enforcement actions, which introduces an institutional motive to highlight certain pictures as proof of “agitators” [8] [5]. Independent outlets relied on eyewitness accounts and legal filings rather than photographic authentication [1] [2].
6. What the record proves and what it does not
The record proves that: 1) a family publicly said they had been tear-gassed after leaving a basketball game and were reported by CNN and local stations [1] [4]; 2) a separate retired couple filed suit over treatment during protests and a judge found they likely have claims [2]; and 3) ICE and media circulated many protest photos and arrest images [5] [6]. The record does not, in the provided reporting, supply forensic verification that any specific circulating photo purporting to show “the couple coming home from a basketball game” is actually those individuals at that time and place; therefore the specific claim that photos of that couple shown at a protest are definitively “real” (i.e., authenticated to that moment) cannot be confirmed on the basis of the sources supplied [1] [2] [5].
7. Bottom line
Reliable reporting confirms both the family’s tear‑gas allegation and separate legal claims by another couple, and confirms that many protest photos exist and that ICE released images of alleged agitators, but it does not supply public, forensic evidence in these sources to unequivocally authenticate a particular circulating photo as the basketball‑game couple at a protest; absent explicit photographic verification in the reporting, the claim remains unproven rather than falsified [1] [2] [5].