Last week, OpenAI released Sora 2, the latest version of its AI video creator, along with a new Sora app for making and sharing those videos. The new tool has led to an explosion in realistic AI videos on social media, including plenty of fresh discussion about intellectual property rights. But one of the oddest things to emerge with Sora 2 is a new crop of videos showing AI protesters.
These aren’t just any protest videos. Specifically, supporters of President Donald Trump appear to be making videos of protesters being brutalized by the federal agents and troops who have been sent to U.S. cities. Trump has most recently tried to deploy National Guard troops to Portland and Chicago, and while those deployments have been delayed by the courts, those cities are still crawling with ICE agents terrorizing immigrant communities.
One of the new fake protester videos, which has over 40 million views on Instagram, shows someone clad in black shouting in the face of a soldier dressed in fatigues.
“What’s your name, soldier?” the AI protester yells repeatedly. The text on the screen reads “wait for it” before the AI soldier sprays the protester with orange pepper spray, yelling back “Sergeant Pepper.”
The video has been shared on several platforms, including TikTok and X, where many people don’t seem to understand it’s AI. The actor James Woods, a Trump supporter who frequently shares right-wing memes on X, wrote on Tuesday about the video, “Couldn’t get better than this. Haiku-level brilliant.” Many of the comments seem to be just as oblivious to the fact that it’s AI.
Another video that’s become popular on Facebook, Instagram, and X shows AI protesters shouting “no queso, no cheese,” apparently a racist riff on the common protest chant “no justice, no peace.” The AI protesters in the video are also sprayed with a chemical agent.
The video has gotten over 1.5 million views on X alone, with the caption, “Lmfao, that was beautiful and before you ask I voted 100 for this!!”
The phrase “I voted for this” has become a common thing for far-right supporters of Trump to say when something particularly brutal has happened to their political opponents.
Lmfao, that was beautiful and before you ask I voted 💯 for this!! pic.twitter.com/O6VLFZnw3i — 🇺🇸Steve2A🇺🇸God🇺🇸Family🇺🇸Country🇺🇸 (@lakemonstercl1) October 7, 2025
The Instagram version of the video includes the caption “Liberals acting like clowns – got treated like clowns by federal agents – goodbye – FAFO,” an acronym for “fuck around and find out.” Some users on Instagram have pointed out that it’s AI, but the account insists in the comments that it’s real.
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