Video of Eminem fan's airport tantrum unrelated to immigration agents
- Published on March 25, 2026 at 21:15
- 1 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
X accounts supportive of Donald Trump are claiming a liberal protester was filmed angrily chanting the chorus of rapper Eminem's "Not Afraid" in objection to the presence of immigration agents deployed by the US president to flight hubs across the country. But the video is misrepresented; it shows a traveler's meltdown at a Seattle, Washington airport in 2023.
"Dude sings an Eminem song in dramatic fashion when he sees ICE at the airport," says a March 24, 2026 post on X.
The popular pro-Trump account "Catturd," whom AFP has repeatedly fact-checked for propagating misinformation and conspiracy theories, shared it.
"No fly list forever," he wrote.
Similar claims spread across X after Trump started placing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents -- already facing intense scrutiny over its aggressive tactics and the fatal shootings of two US citizens -- in airports to ease mounting travel disruption caused by a partial government shutdown.
But the "Not Afraid" clip is unrelated, predating the appearance of ICE agents in major travel hubs by more than three years.
A reverse image search surfaced the same footage in March 2023 posts on TikTok and the video-licensing website ViralHog (archived here and here). ViralHog, which also uploaded the clip to YouTube, said the incident occurred February 28, 2023 (archived here).
"The individual was causing issues on an inbound flight, he was met by police who asked him to leave the Seattle airport and became agitated," the service wrote. "The police handled the situation calmly and professionally and eventually escorted the guy out."
The rap anthem from Eminem, who stumped for Trump rival Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign and once targeted the Republican businessman in a diss track, was released in 2010.
According to local news reports published March 23, 2026, Seattle had not seen any ICE agents assigned to its airport.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
