January 6 Rioter Tried to Use Deepfake Argument To Toss Aside Evidence
Two years ago, millions of Americans watched in real-time as a horde of rioters, some adorned in Viking gear, seized the nation’s capital more than two years ago. Lawyers for Guy Reffitt, one of the most prominent offenders and the first person charged in the attacks, tried to claim that video footage depicting the event couldn’t be true because, theoretically, have been deepfaked.
During the trial, Reffitt’s lawyer grilled an FBI agent about deepfakes, arguing prosecutors could not prove an image appearing to show Reffitt storming the capitol with what looks like a weapon holster on his waist wasn’t faked or altered. The attorney, who was trying to convince the jury Reffitt was unarmed during the riots, said observers couldn’t necessarily trust what they saw.
“You do not know who prepared them, [the images] how they were prepared, how they were enhanced or when,” the attorney said during the trial.
