Image that appears to show Secret Service agents smiling while escorting Trump offstage was altered

After shots rang out at a July 13 Pennsylvania rally and former President Donald Trump ducked for cover, Secret Service agents sprang into action, shielding Trump and escorting him offstage. Now, social media users are sharing an image that appears to show the Secret Service agents smiling as they did so.

“Why are the secret service smiling? STAGED,” the caption on a July 14 Threads post read. Another caption on a post sharing the same image read, “Why are the (Secret Service) smiling? Why is the flag so close to the stage when it wasn’t there before the shooting?”

Figure 1: Claim about Secret Service agents smiling, with description, 7-15-2024

(Screenshot from Threads)

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

The photo shared in these posts has been altered.

Photos of Trump as he was walked offstage have gained millions of social media views. The photo that was altered was taken by Associated Press photojournalist Evan Vucci. In the original photo, published July 13, the Secret Service agents weren’t smiling.

Photo of Trump with raised fist being escorted offstage, 7-13-2024 — Figure 2: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP)

U.S. Secret Service agents surround former President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. (AP)

The agents also weren’t smiling in Vucci’s other photos while Trump was being moved offstage.

The shooter, whom the FBI identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, killed one person and injured two others at the rally. Trump said a bullet pierced part of his right ear. Crooks was shot and killed by Secret Service agents.

As the FBI investigates the shooting as an assassination attempt, PolitiFact has debunked other inaccurate claims about the incident, including one that said Trump staged the shooting.

We rate the claim that a photo shows Secret Service agents smiling as they escorted Trump offstage after an assassination attempt Pants on Fire!