Fact check: Aerial footage of crowds at an anti-Trump protest in Boston at the weekend was from 2017.

1. Why the 2017 narrative has plausible support and what it shows

Multiple January 2017 news accounts describe thousands of anti‑Trump protesters gathering on Boston Common in the immediate aftermath of President Trump’s inauguration; reporting dated January 20–21, 2017 describes large, peaceful demonstrations and aerial perspectives that media sometimes used to illustrate crowd scale. These contemporaneous accounts make 2017 a plausible origin for aerial footage depicting dense crowds and anti‑Trump signs because they document the specific event the footage could depict, and the timing aligns with known nationwide inaugural protests ^{[1] [2] [5]}. The presence of multiple 2017 reports strengthens the plausibility but does not constitute proof.

2. Why 2025 coverage creates an alternate plausible origin story

Independent reporting from October 18, 2025 details the “No Kings” protests in Boston, describing thousands of participants, creative signage, and street scenes that match what viewers might assume are anti‑Trump demonstrations. That coverage suggests the aerial footage could instead be from this recent rally; a recent large protest provides an equally plausible candidate for the footage’s origin, especially if the clip surfaced around mid‑October 2025 or was recirculated following the October demonstrations ^{[3] [4] [6]}. The temporal proximity of publication to the footage’s reappearance matters for attributing the clip.

3. What the unrelated sources show about common misattribution patterns

Other fact‑checking and archival projects demonstrate a recurring pattern: footage from one protest or year is often repurposed to illustrate later events, intentionally or accidentally, because crowd scenes are visually similar across years and locations. The provided third group of sources discusses digitization and re‑use of older protest footage and instances of misattributed video in other contexts, illustrating a general risk that visuals are detached from original context; these examples do not directly identify the Boston clip’s date but underline why independent verification is needed ^{[7] [8] [9]}.

4. What a rigorous verification process would require

To resolve whether this specific aerial clip is from 2017 or 2025, analysts should locate the clip’s original uploader, check embedded metadata and timestamps, and perform frame‑by‑frame geolocation using identifiable landmarks, signage, vehicle plates, or storefronts visible in the video. Cross‑referencing weather conditions and shadows with historical meteorological data for the presumed date can also help. Without these technical checks, news reports showing that large protests occurred in both 2017 and 2025 only establish plausibility, not provenance ^{[1] [3]}.

5. How motives and context affect interpretation of the claim

When footage is reused, motivations range from benign error to deliberate misinformation; partisan actors may repurpose archival clips to exaggerate or minimize current events. The 2017 reports and the 2025 coverage come from different moments with distinct political contexts, so attributing footage to one year or the other can serve political narratives about protest size, momentum, or legitimacy. Recognizing these potential agendas matters for consumers and platforms assessing the clip’s authenticity ^{[2] [6]}.

6. Practical recommendation for journalists, platforms, and readers

Journalists and fact‑checkers should demand native files or original posts and run geolocation and metadata analysis before citing the footage’s date. Platforms should label unverified archival reuse clearly and attach provenance checks when possible. For readers, treat visual crowd footage as inconclusive without technical verification and prefer sources that disclose how they verified the clip’s origin ^{[8] [3]}.

7. Bottom line: plausible but unresolved — treat attribution with caution

Both sets of reporting demonstrate that Boston hosted large anti‑Trump demonstrations in January 2017 and again large anti‑Trump‑oriented protests in October 2025, so either year could realistically be the source of aerial footage showing crowds. The current evidence supports plausibility for both dates but does not definitively attribute the clip; only technical provenance or original sourcing will do that. Pending such verification, public statements asserting a single year as fact should be treated as unproven ^{[1] [3] [7]}.