Image of tanks outside arena for NBA Finals attended by Trump is altered
- Published on June 10, 2026 at 19:26
- 2 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
Security measures were hiked outside the storied Madison Square Garden as US President Donald Trump attended game three of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, but an image spread online of military tanks outside the arena is an altered fake that appears to have originated with a parody account. The original photo, posted by a journalist who said it showed media members queued up for screening to enter the stadium, did not include the armored vehicles.
"WE HAVE TANKS ONSITE FOR THE GAME," says a June 8, 2026 post on X from Ryan Fournier, a conservative activist and co-founder of Students for Trump.
Fournier, who has previously spread other disinformation, also shared the image on Facebook as similar posts appeared across platforms.
The picture spread as the New York Knicks tipped off June 8 in their home arena against the San Antonio Spurs, a matchup the Spurs won behind 32 points from French phenom Victor Wembanyama to cut the Knicks lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven championship series.
A sprawling security perimeter was established outside Madison Square Garden, with an increased law enforcement presence and nearby watch parties cancelled, as Trump became the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals matchup. Fans loudly booed as he appeared on the arena jumbotron during the singing of the national anthem.
In his second term in the White House, Trump has deployed National Guard troops to various Democrat-led cities, including Chicago and Washington, in an unprecedented use of the military on American soil. In 2025, he arranged a military parade that saw soldiers march and tanks roll down barricaded Washington streets.
But the image of armored vehicles stationed near the famed New York City arena above Penn Station is digitally manipulated.
Reverse image searches uncovered an original version of the photo, posted to X ahead of the start of game three by New York Post reporter Stefan Bondy (archived here).
"Media line to get thru the TSA screening four hours before the game," Bondy wrote.
AFP footage of the security setup for the game, including of the area outside the stadium captured in Bondy's photo, showed no tanks.
The doctored version appears to have originated with "@NBAMemes," an X account that describes itself in its bio as "parody" (archived here). AFP reached out to an email address listed for the account for comment, but no response was immediately forthcoming.
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
