DR has published previously unseen photographs showing that a widely shared image of a man performing a Nazi salute at a Copenhagen demonstration is authentic, after independent MP Jacob Harris suggested it was AI-generated.
The photograph was taken during a demonstration on Østerbro in Copenhagen, staged by the movement Det danske folk. DR reports that the march took place on the same day as the flag day for Denmark’s deployed soldiers. Slogans at the event concerned remigration and opposition to political Islam.
The image shows a black-clad man making the salute. It was taken by a photographer working for the left-wing research collective Redox. It was later shared on Instagram by Enhedslisten leader Pelle Dragsted.
According to Redox, which published its account on September 6, 2026, the march on September 5 featured salutes, SS symbols and hooligan violence.
Claims of AI manipulation
Several social media profiles began suggesting the photo had been made with artificial intelligence. Attention centered on a woman standing to the left of the saluting man, who at first glance appears to have three legs. Harris, elected for Borgernes Parti and now an independent, shared the image with that comment attached.
On Facebook, Harris wrote that the picture, in his view, smelled of being AI-generated, yet was used by the left, mainstream media and party leaders. As reported by Ekstra Bladet on September 7, 2026, the claim spread quickly on social media.
Three experts find no signs of AI
DR consulted three experts and located other images and videos of the same scene. Lotte Philipsen, center leader at the Centre for Aesthetics of AI Images at Aarhus University, said she sees no signs of AI generation. Peder Hammerskov, head of the Center for AI at the Danish School of Media and Journalism, reached the same conclusion.
The experts pointed to additional documentation, including a photo from the agency Scanpix taken by Nils Meilvang. That image shows the woman in question in full figure. AI expert Jonathan Løw assessed the photo as genuine.
DR gained access to further frames from the photo series. They show that the apparent third leg belongs to a second woman, partly hidden in the original frame. The same applies to an arm with a raised middle finger.
Hammerskov noted that it takes 30 seconds to raise the question and half a day to disprove it. Philipsen compared the tactic of discrediting real images as AI to methods seen in the MAGA movement in the United States, calling it undermining for democracy.
Harris told DR he finds it hard to say the image is not manipulated. He said he is 99.9 percent sure the man did perform the salute, but that the photo looks suspicious. He also said media coverage focused on two saluting participants rather than the rest of the demonstration.
