Is the story true of a 91-year-old woman named Helen who was arrested and jailed in a hospital gown for shoplifting prescription medicine for her ailing husband? No, that's not true: There is no evidence or proof given to back up the details in a viral post. The image of the woman standing in a hospital gown in front of…
Does a video show a true story about a veteran who shot three teens who were attempting to rob him and was then charged with murder? No, that's not true: The details of this story do not match a real case. The video uses clips from several unrelated news reports. In 2019, there was a Georgia homeowner who fatally shot…
Did Andrea Bocelli cancel his New York City concert after Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor, saying "I don't sing for communists"? No, that's not true: There are multiple social media posts showing Bocelli and other artists including Jason Aldean, Kid Rock, Brandon Lake, Steven Tyler and George Strait with a message saying that they have canceled upcoming concerts in New…
Does a video show a real Walmart employee getting arrested for giving milk to a baby? No, that's not true: The video is AI generated, as indicated by the brief flicker of the watermark from AI-generating app Sora on screen. As is often the case with AI-generated video, details are unrealistic: the police officer standing behind the woman getting arrested…
Did the Los Angeles Police Department charge "Daniel Reed" for sexual harassment for grabbing "Jessica Moore" to pull her back from the path of a speeding car? No, that's not true: The video showing a man grabbing a woman before she is hit by a car is from a 2020 incident in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Instagram video that carries the…
Is a video of police threatening to arrest a man who volunteered to clean up an elderly person's overgrown lawn for free real? No, that's not true: The opening segment of the video showing a police officer warning someone to step aside or "there's gonna be problems" is from an incident unrelated to anyone cleaning up a lawn, according to…
Does a viral video show a black woman "robbing a white woman because Trump cut food stamps"? No, that's not true: The video was posted online three years before the 2025 government shutdown that threatened to delay or cut food subsidies. It shows a 2022 incident in Texas unrelated to Trump or the 2025 federal budget. The outdated video was…
Did a federal judge in Virginia drop charges against former FBI Director James Comey because the prosecutor misspelled Comey's last name as "Homey"? No, that's not true: The rumor on social media originated from a satire website. As of October 10, 2025, the trial date was set for January 5, 2026; however, the former FBI Director's legal team stated that…
Is a video showing a Portland police officer threaten to arrest an ICE agent if he doesn't stop "driving into people," and the agent replying "won't be messy" authentic? No, that's not true: A longer video giving a wider view reveals the officer is warning a woman in a civilian vehicle, who has no apparent connection to ICE, that she…
Did California Governor Gavin Newsom win the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2025 and has President Donald Trump "exploded with rage" over the news? No, that's not true: The story originated on a well known satire publication named The Borowitz Report. There were no actual news reports about Newsom being awarded the prize. The viral article (archived here) was published…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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