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Viral image
Viral image
stated on May 4, 2020 in a Facebook post:

A photo shows Rob Cantrall at a recent Michigan protest.

False

Michigan protest photo shows Brian Cash, not Rob Cantrall

If your time is short

  • The man shouting in this photograph is Brian Cash, from New Hudson, Mich.
 
See the sources for this fact-check

In a widely shared photo from Michigan’s state Capitol, a bearded man yells while facing two masked police officers.

Though the protester wasn’t identified in the caption that went out with the AFP image by photographer Jeff Kowalsky on April 30, a May 5 story in the Detroit Free Press identified him as Brian Cash, a 52-year-old flooring installer from New Hudson, Mich. 

That means he isn’t right-wing activist Rob Cantrall, as recent social media posts claim. 

“This guy is Rob Cantrell (sic), longtime white supremacist and member of The Proud Boys” reads the text above an image of the photo cropped around Cash’s face. “Trump says these are good people. Rob lives in Los Angeles, but he and many others will travel if paid to take part in protests such as the one in Michigan. This is the face of MAGA. Spread their shame.”

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

Cantrall headed an Oregon chapter of the Proud Boys, a men’s organization of self-described “western chauvinists” that the Southern Poverty Law Center has called a “hate group.” The Free Press describes him as “a controversial right-wing activist.” 

Cash told the newspaper that he didn’t at first know who Cantrall was. But after researching it, Cash said he was upset to be associated with someone he considered a “racist.”

We rate this Facebook post False.

 

Michigan protest photo shows Brian Cash, not Rob Cantrall

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
stated on January 7, 2026 a press briefing

stated on January 14, 2026 a statement

Social Media
stated on February 14, 2026 social media posts



stated on January 20, 2026 an op-ed


Donald Trump
stated on February 3, 2026 remarks in the Oval Office


Social Media
stated on February 8, 2026 social media posts





Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
stated on stated on November 17, 2025 in remarks at George Washington University:

Donald Trump
stated on February 2, 2026 an interview with Dan Bongino