Police are urging the public for patience and to be careful what information they trust online in the wake of an act of vandalism that occurred at Saint Martha’s Church in East Providence over the weekend.

Police reported in a press release on Sunday afternoon that they were called to the church (located at 2595 Pawtucket Ave.) around 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning for a report of a break-in and acts of vandalism — including numerous broken windows, graffiti, and writing on the walls — in areas including the rectory, the living quarters, and the altar.

The vandalism was so extensive, reportedly, that parishioners of Saint Martha’s were forced to go elsewhere for their Sunday morning services.

Police believe the act occurred between 8:00 p.m. Saturday night and 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning and asked members of the public in the surrounding neighborhood to check their security cameras for any footage that might be helpful to the investigation, and to call 401-435-7600 if they find anything helpful.

Fake photos make the rounds
On Facebook, where the East Providence Police maintain a well-followed and active account, and where they also shared the news of the vandalism and plea to the public for help in a post, comments on that post quickly started appearing from people who claimed to have seen photographs of the crime scene, one indicating that the “word on the street” was that the vandal was motivated by recent anti-ICE protests.

One of the photos they had seen showed what appeared to be the interior of a church, with the name “Renee Good” written on a wall and “[F-word expletive] GOD” written elsewhere. Renee Good is the woman who was killed in Minneapolis last week following an incident with ICE, which has further ignited heated political tensions nationwide.

The only problem was — no real photos of the crime scene graffiti have yet been released.

The ones circulating throughout social media in the immediate wake of the crime becoming public were generated using Gemini Artificial Intelligence, the AI program utilized by Google; which was made apparent by the Gemini logo in the bottom right corner of the photograph, which is placed as a watermark when an AI image is created.

“This fabricated content was not present at the scene and was not photographed or released by the East Providence Police Department,” the East Providence Police Department Facebook shared in a post on Monday.

The post went on to strongly rebuke the individuals who shared the AI photos and passed them along as fact.

“The deliberate editing and sharing of false images, along with sensationalized and inaccurate narratives, serves no purpose other than to spread misinformation, inflame emotions, and potentially ignite hatred or fear within our community. Such actions are irresponsible and deeply harmful. Individuals who altered these images and shared them as fact should be ashamed of their conduct,” the post reads. “Spreading blatantly false information undermines active investigations, misleads the public, and distracts from meaningful dialogue and community safety. It is counterproductive, immature, and driven by attention-seeking behavior rather than truth.”

Police said that residents should be patient and wait for official information to emerge following their investigation.

“Official information regarding police investigations will only be released through verified City of East Providence social media accounts and official police news releases,” the department stated in one of its Facebook posts. “Any other sources should be treated with skepticism.”

Mayor calls out media personality
At least one local media personality, John DePetro, a former WPRO radio host who now operates his own independent radio program, “The Independent Man”, shared the AI-generated photos in a post that went out to his 114,000 followers on Facebook.

Mayor Bob DaSilva, in his own Facebook post on Monday, denounced DePetro for sharing the photos, which DaSilva alleged were created by DePetro.

“This person who calls himself a journalist actually created fake evidence with an AI photo showing the name ‘Renee Good’ depicted as vandalism in the St Martha’s rectory, but when he posted the photos he also posted one that did not show the name ‘Renee Good’ on the same wall,” the mayor’s post read. “He caught his mistake and later posted a new fake photo this time removing the one that did not show the fake AI ‘Renee Good’ graffiti. Unfortunately for him that original doctored photo had already been shared on another local MAGA Facebook page. When one checks the edit history on his page we see that he removed the original doctored photo and replaced it with the new one.”

DaSilva further wrote he confirmed with police that there was no “political graffiti” or “political motive” that has been identified at this point of the investigation.

“What a disgrace to journalism,” the mayor’s post continued. “Imagine using a terrible crime to fake evidence to further inflame our community to push his MAGA agenda. Shame on you John DePetro. You are a disgrace and owe our community an apology.”

While it might be a stretch to call it an apology, DePetro did issue a comment on his Facebook page, which also denied that he made them himself. The fake photos have been completely removed from DePetro's account as of our review on Monday afternoon.

“Yesterday [Sunday] for 15 mins we posted a photo (provided to us) that proved not to be credible, and it was removed,” DePetro's post reads. “Mistakes happen. Much like a politician claiming a bridge would be closed for 3 months, turning into 7 years.”

Public ask for transparency, prompt police response
Many comments on the multiple social media posts reported on for this story included a similar inquiry:

Why haven’t the police shared the actual photos of the crime scene in order to put an end to the controversy around the fake photos?

The department went to the lengths to actually respond to those inquiries en masse in their second social media post about the incident, which was published on Monday morning around 9:00 a.m.

“Is it possible to understand that investigators may be using information gathered at the scene to further their investigation and possibly identify as suspect(s)?” the post reads. “The original news release was asking for the public to assist our investigation with any information and possible video footage of the suspect(s). We have always been extremely transparent with information to the public. Not posting pertinent evidence does not equate a lack of transparency, it is part of our investigative procedure.”

“Folding to the pressure of social media commenters to ‘release the real pictures’ is not a reason we should jeopardize an investigation,” the post continued. “Have faith in our officers and detectives to fully investigate criminal acts. We will continue to update the public if there is information to be shared.”