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NOPE
Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

Portland, Oregon: an anonymous social-media account posted 17 racist and anti-immigrant images targeting David Douglas High School football players and their coach, some digitally altered including with AI, from 22 September 2026; the school reported content to Portland police

David Douglas High School in Portland warned families in a statement reported on 28 September 2026 about social-media posts targeting its students, athletes, coaches and staff, saying some images and videos had been digitally altered, including with AI, and did not accurately represent those depicted; it reported some of the content to the Portland Police Bureau. KATU, which reviewed the account, reports 17 posts using racist, anti-immigrant and religious stereotypes against football players: one image shows a Latino player in a sombrero being detained by people labelled as ICE agents, another shows a player in a head covering with what appears to be a fake explosive vest, and a Black player is depicted beneath a caption referring to George Floyd. The head coach said students were hurt, and that one student texted him over the weekend after seeing one of the posts: 'Coach, this is terrible. What do I do?' The account references Rex Putnam High School, whose team David Douglas played on the Friday before the report; which along with its district says it has no connection to it. Who runs the account and which images were AI-generated are not reported.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
22 Sept 2026
Reported
28 September 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Psychological DistressReputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Education · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources
3 claims: 3 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: Unidentified AI image or video tools used to alter or generate images of real students and staff posted by an anonymous social-media account (school statement: 'digitally altered, including with AI'); the tool and platform are not named

What Happened

KPTV and KATU (28 September 2026) quote the David Douglas High School football team's Facebook statement: 'We are aware of social media posts targeting David Douglas students, athletes, coaches, and staff. Some images and videos have been digitally altered, including with AI, and do not accurately represent those depicted.' The school said it had reported some content to the Portland Police Bureau. KATU reviewed the account and describes 17 posts that appear to target David Douglas football players using racist, anti-immigrant and religious stereotypes, including an image of a Latino player in a sombrero being detained by people identified as ICE agents, a player in a head covering with what appears to be a fake explosive vest, a Black player beneath a caption that KATU describes as an apparent reference to George Floyd and a player on the team, with the Rex Putnam mascot kneeling on the player, racial slurs, and the head coach depicted in front of a political banner. The first post was made on 22 September and the most recent on the Sunday before KATU's Monday report. The coach said the students were hurt and that one student texted him over the weekend after seeing one of the posts. KATU does not state which individual images were AI-generated. The account's name and imagery reference Rex Putnam High School, whose leaders and district said it is not affiliated with them.

Reported harm

The head coach told KATU that students were hurt by posts depicting them in racist and anti-immigrant scenes, some altered with AI according to the school, and that one student texted him after seeing a post, 'Coach, this is terrible. What do I do?'

Outcome

Ongoing

The school said some of the content had been reported to the Portland Police Bureau; a bureau spokesperson told KATU its school liaison officer is working with the school. Rex Putnam High School and the North Clackamas School District denied any affiliation with the account and asked their community to report it to the platform. No suspect is reported.

What remains unknown

  • Who runs the account and on which platform it was posted.
  • Which images and videos were made or altered with AI and with what tool.
  • Whether police have identified anyone or whether the posts were removed.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The school's statement says some images and videos were digitally altered, including with AI, and do not accurately represent those depicted; KATU describes the posts as AI-generated images. Neither identifies which images were AI-generated or the tool used.

3 claims: 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported David Douglas High School said social-media posts were targeting its students, athletes, coaches and staff, that some images and videos had been digitally altered, including with AI, and did not accurately represent those depicted, and that some content had been reported to the Portland Police Bureau.

Causal attribution. The school's own statement.

  • kptv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Some images and videos have been digitally altered, including with AI, and do not accurately represent those depicted.'; 'Some of the content brought to our attention has been reported to the Portland Police Bureau'
  • katu.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'some of the images and videos were digitally altered and “do not accurately represent those depicted.”'
Reported KATU reviewed the account and found 17 posts, first posted on 22 September, that appear to target David Douglas football players with racist, anti-immigrant and religious stereotypes, including images depicting a Latino player being detained by people labelled as ICE agents and a player in a head covering with what appears to be a fake explosive vest.

Causal attribution. KATU's review of the posts; which images were AI-altered is not specified.

  • katu.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The account includes 17 posts, which appear to target David Douglas football players and use racist, anti-immigrant, and religious stereotypes.'; 'One image depicts a Latino player wearing a sombrero being detained by people identified as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.'; 'Another shows a player in a head covering with what appears to be a fake explosive vest.'; 'The first post was made on September 22'
Reported The head coach said students were hurt by the posts and that one student texted him over the weekend after seeing one of the posts, writing 'Coach, this is terrible. What do I do?'

Causal attribution. The coach's account to KATU.

  • katu.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'But I think kids are definitely hurt by it.”'; 'Coach, this is terrible. What do I do?'; 'one student texted him over the weekend after seeing a post'

Sources

2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live on 2026-09-29 (KATU, 28 September 2026, updated the same day). Quotes the school statement, KATU's own review of the account and an interview with the head coach. Applies to s1.

Read live on 2026-09-29 (KPTV). Reproduces the school's Facebook statement; adds no independent detail. Applies to s2.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: Unknown.

David Douglas High School is in Portland, Oregon, and the school reported content to the Portland Police Bureau (KPTV, KATU). Where the account holder is located is unknown. No court proceeding.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-29: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): a school says posts targeting its students and staff included images altered with AI, and a broadcaster that reviewed the account describes racist depictions of the school's football players and reports that students were hurt. Students and staff are not named here.

People described

Students on the David Douglas High School football team in Portland, Oregon, and their head coach (not named here)

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

At least one student who texted the coach in distress after seeing a post (KATU); the coach says students more generally were hurt, and at least three players and the coach were depicted, but harm to each is not separately reported. Partial, minimum 1.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-altered-images#harassment#racism#school#students#oregon#portland

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Portland, Oregon: an anonymous social-media account posted 17 racist and anti-immigrant images targeting David Douglas High School football players and their coach, some digitally altered including with AI, from 22 September 2026; the school reported content to Portland police. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-portland-david-douglas-high-school-ai-altered-racist-posts-football-players

BibTeX

@misc{2026_portland_david_douglas_high_school_ai_altered_racist_posts_football_players,
  title = {Portland, Oregon: an anonymous social-media account posted 17 racist and anti-immigrant images targeting David Douglas High School football players and their coach, some digitally altered including with AI, from 22 September 2026; the school reported content to Portland police},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-portland-david-douglas-high-school-ai-altered-racist-posts-football-players}
}

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