Photographer admits editing Trump's inauguration pictures
Washington, Sep 8: A US government photographer told investigators that he intentionally cropped photos of President Donald Trump's inauguration to remove empty space and make the audience look larger, according to newly released documents.
The admission on Friday, contained in newly released records from an investigation last year, shed new light on what happened after the National Park Service on January 20, 2017, shared a social media post comparing the crowds that attended the inaugurations of Trump and former President Barack Obama, reports CNN.
Trump claimed footage of the event did not jive with the number of people he saw from the stage
His then-press secretary, Sean Spicer, gathered reporters the following evening and claimed: "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration... Period."
The identity of the photographer and many other government officials are redacted from the documents. The documents recount the call Trump placed on his first full day in office to the then-acting park service director, Michael Reynolds.
Reynolds told investigators he spoke with Trump on the morning after the inauguration, and that the President "asked him to provide pictures of the inauguration", investigators wrote in their notes.
Spicer also reached out to the park service, and a staffer said she understood he asked "for NPS to provide photographs in which it appeared the inauguration crowd filled the majority of the space in the photograph".
The request for additional photographs was relayed to at least two park service photographers who had worked at the event, CNN reported.
One told investigators he arrived to his office about 30 minutes after Trump and Reynolds spoke, and that he cropped the photos, including removing "the bottom where the crowd ended".
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Two Delhi men held for BMTC bus phone thefts in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Whitefield police have arrested two men from Delhi for allegedly stealing mobile phones from passengers travelling in Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses and solved 14 theft cases, officials said on Tuesday.
The arrested accused have been identified as Jai Chand (25), who worked at a hotel in Delhi, and Tarun (34), an autorickshaw driver in Delhi.
Officials said on January 24, a Mahadevapura resident lodged a complaint that his iPhone 15 Plus was stolen while he was travelling on a BMTC bus towards Whitefield.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case and arrested two suspects within an hour near a lodge on Hosa Road. During the arrest, the police found a bag containing several stolen mobile phones.
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“During interrogation, the suspects confessed that they were stealing mobile phones from passengers travelling in BMTC buses. They had also committed thefts during a concert held under the Channarayapatna police station limits on January 23,” the police said.
Investigations revealed that the accused had travelled from Delhi for the concert and stolen mobile phones from the audience. A third suspect is at large and is likely hiding in the Shahdara area of Delhi.
One of the victims, a YouTuber, raised the theft issue in February in a post on X.
“Here is my (FIR No 0013/2026 is registered in Channarayapatana PS. Your GSC No. is PO1814260100013) request @DelhiPolice @BlrCityPolice to plz look into this & get my device back since it's my work phone & I am a youtuber, all my data is there! someone plz help. @dcpwhitefield,” Anirban Sarkar posted on X on February 6.
Police have recovered 14 mobile phones of various brands, collectively valued at about Rs 9 lakh, from the accused. The two were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.
In total, one case from Whitefield and 13 from Channarayapatna police stations were detected. Further investigation is underway.
