Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security are accused of lying with an old boat photo that has "zero ties to the current situation" and using the image to promote attacks on alleged drug boats after Colombia's president questioned the strikes.
In a post on the DHS News account posted Monday on X, the agency attempted "to discredit Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who had accused Trump of murdering an innocent fisherman in an attack on a boat the U.S. claimed was run by drug smugglers," The Daily Beast reports Tuesday.
Petro is one of the first world leaders to challenge the Trump administration's attacks and call for a criminal investigation.
The since-deleted post read:
“Colombian President claims one of the Narco boats destroyed by the US Naval Task Force was ‘just a poor Colombian fisherman’. Does this look like a fishing boat? It looks like he had tons of bait (cocaine, attracts lots of fish). Colombian president is a liar!!” the post said.
Social media users called out Noem's DHS, saying the image of the boat with apparent bags of drugs came from a 2024 operation reported by the Spanish newspaper El País. That investigation happened about 1,000 kilometers south of the Canary Islands.
“This photo is from a drug bust that occurred in 2024, zero ties to the current situation,” according to a community note that was added as a fact-check for users, The Beast reports. “Photo is taken from the video attached in the article below.”
The administration has come under fire for sharing multiple images and videos that are misleading or false, as suspicions over the attacks and the legality grow. At least six known U.S.-led attacks have been launched in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in an estimated 29 people dead.
“They lie so brazenly that it is still shocking to me,” said Krystal Ball, political commentator and podcaster.