White House Posts Black Mugshots on Social Media; It’s Racism

Less than 12 hours after seizing control of Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, the President of the United States—almost certainly guided by the twisted hand of Stephen Miller—weaponized the official White House social media page to resurrect one of America’s oldest and deadliest lies: the criminal Black male stereotype, posting Black mugshots.

In a grotesque display of state power, the administration began parading the arrest photos of Black men like hunting trophies—men who had not yet seen a judge, spoken to an attorney, or exercised their constitutional right to due process. These are American citizens. Fathers. Sons. Brothers. Human beings. And yet, they were reduced to mugshots, broadcast to the world by the highest office in the land, as if guilt were a foregone conclusion.

Important Historical Context around Black Mugshots

The White House’s decision to post images of Black men under the banner “Operation Making D.C. Safe & Beautiful” echoes a long and troubling history in America. Since Reconstruction, law enforcement and political leaders have used public displays of Black suspects to reinforce stereotypes and justify discriminatory policies.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, newspapers frequently printed the names and photos of Black men accused of crimes—often without trial—to stoke fear and, in some cases, incite mob violence. During Jim Crow, this tactic helped justify over-policing and segregation, while the mid-20th century “mugshot parade” in local papers cemented the visual link between Blackness and criminality.

This pattern persisted into the War on Drugs and the 1990s “super predator” myth, when televised images of young Black men in handcuffs were used to push harsh sentencing laws and expand mass incarceration. Today, social media amplifies that legacy. When the federal government shares arrest photos online, it revives this historical practice—now at internet speed—turning policing into political theater and reinforcing dangerous racial narratives.

Linking the Past to the Present

The Black mugshots are not accidental—it’s propaganda. The federal government is weaponizing its communications apparatus to legitimize racial profiling, undermine the presumption of innocence, and inflame public fears for political gain. In a city nearly half Black, officials showcase only Black faces as “crime,” telling residents they are a problem, not valued lives.

Such imagery shapes public perception in ways that can justify harsher policing, expanded surveillance, and rollbacks of hard-won civil rights protections. It primes the public to accept mass arrests, military-style crackdowns, and the erosion of due process as necessary for “safety.” And history shows us that once the state can dehumanize and criminalize an entire group in the public square, it rarely stops there.

What We Must Do

We cannot afford to be silent while the White House uses our tax dollars to broadcast racist dog whistles dressed up as “public safety.” Every share, every press conference, and every tweet like this hardens public opinion against Black communities and our youth, making authoritarian crackdowns palatable.

The response must be loud and immediate: demand that Congress investigate this abuse of federal communications channels, flood your representatives with calls, support independent media that expose these tactics, and refuse to let these images go unchallenged in our feeds.

History tells us exactly where this kind of state-sponsored dehumanization leads. The only question now is whether we will recognize it—and stop it—before it’s too late.