Thread: We need fast research help on this explosive picture

Does anyone recognize the buildings in the background to help determine where the picture was taken?

Seems like the DHS would be REALLY interested in this photo...isn't that sign actually a TERRORIST THREAT? They go after American citizens for the slightest word said against this government, but yet illegals can threaten to go after American citizens with shovels and pick axes and threaten to harm police and not a peep comes out of Janet Napolitano's pie hole. What's up with that?

I don't even know what to say.............

This is completely outrageous. I can try to find something out, but have never been to Phoenix, so cannot help in locations. I will try some other sites to see what comes up.

William, something I noticed. The guy talking with the sign holder has something in his hand that is in Spanish. What you can see it one of the words appears to be "vigilante".

So, could not find anything, sorry. Did find one video of a guy, who was Latino, in support of immigration reform and also of the protests, but was asking people to stop taking foreign flags to protests it was not helping them. Smart thinking, he even tried to interview people who were carrying flags other than US, and one guy had some liberal interrupt and tell the guy this young protestor was not to be interviewed, she kept insisting he not ask anymore questions. Interesting, seems she was one of the open borders handlers.

I'm a graphic designer, and a frequent user of Photoshop. Here are the things that stick out to me in this photo.

1. You don't have to put the entire guy into the photo in order to photoshop the image to have a guy with a sign saying whatever you want on it. You only have to photoshop the sign.
2. Photoshopping the sign would be very easy to do, as the surface of the paper is all one color, so using the clone tool or healing brush to remove any previous text to replace it with your own would be no problem at all. One thing that makes me think this happened is that on the bottom center of the top paper, there is a lighter kind of splotch next to a darker splotch. That can happen easily if you take a sample from an area of the sign that doesn't match up correctly with the hue/saturation/lightness of what you're covering up.
3. If you look at the strokes on some of the letters, there is a kind of ball at the end of the strokes. You may see this effect whenever you write with a marker, however, considering the size of the sign and the letters, I don't think this would be as prevalent. On the other hand, if the person were using the paintbrush or airbrush tool in Photoshop, this could easily happen. I have a Wacom tablet that I used to draw with, and if you write with it, that sort of thing happens frequently when your hand hesitates a little too long in one place.

That's my take on the photo. Aside from my knowledge of Photoshop, and the ease with which this image could be manipulated, my common sense tells me that this sign is just a little too outlandish to be real. I'm sure that sentiment exists, but to put such a claim on a sign is beyond bold.

Hope that helps.

My gut feeling is that the photo is a fake. I know nothing at all about photoshop, but my deep down feeling says not to believe this photo. The reason I feel this way is because I dont think anyone would stand in public with a cop killing message on their sign. I would be more inclined to believe it if someone wrote it on a wall anonymously. But to stand there with a cop killing sign at a protest where there are bound to be cops and maybe undercover LE...I dont think so. And furthermore the guy had to have seen that someone was taking a photo. No, I think it is faked. Just saying....

I disagree with the last two comments. The width of the script could be easily done with larger markers that have a bias-cut on the tip. All of the writing is of the same handwriting traits.---you can see the same forms repeated in similar letters on both signs. The upward slope of the writing is the same. Anyone looking at the two signs would believe the same person did them ( I had a friend who was knowledgaeble about graphoanalysis, and there are some books on it; it's hard to fake the idiosyncracies of writing style)

Since both signs are done on white paper you would see some difference in tone, because of lighting differences, if the lower sign was photoshopped on to the larger one. It would have most likely been photographed under different lighting conditions,; the only possibility would be if someone took a picture of it at about the same time, but there is no evidence of hands holding it--or being airbrushed out out of the print. The signs are turned at similar angles, suggesting someone carefully put the two together. The lower sign is placed symettrically below the upper sign. It's hard to see if the lower one is stapled or taped to the upper at the corners. If you can enlarge it these might show up.

So make your choice, It is either real or an exceptionally professional fake. Considering the tone of other slogans and statements at the march this one is quite believable.

Here's a photoshop of that sign...you decide...

Not even an amatuer at photoshop detection, but the white of the sign looks odd around the last line of printing. That's what usually happens when I try to Photoshop something.