Woke

Was Evan Kilgore the federal agent who shot and killed U.S. citizen and registered nurse Alex Pretti during an immigration enforcement raid in Minneapolis? No, that's not true: Kilgore denied he worked for immigration enforcement agencies and threatened to sue those who spread the claim on social media. Lead Stories found nothing suggesting that the conservative commentator had built a…

Does real bodycam video show a local policeman demanding that a Brinks truck driver open the cargo hold of a truck that was "a federal asset"? No, that's not true: The video is watermarked "A.I. BodyCam VIDEOS" by the page that posted it, which says in its page bio that it creates "fictional...Dramatic, scripted bodycam vids." The font of the…

Does this viral video show a ceremony during the Minnesota Timberwolves game Jan. 8, 2026 to commemorate the death of Renee Good? No, that's not true: The video was posted on a satire account. The video shows the wrong jerseys for the Timberwolves. Players for the Timberwolves and Cavaliers did stand silently to honor the 37-year-old Minneapolis woman shot and…

Does an authentic video show the moment when a curious black bear climbed on a porch railing and woke a napping man? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. It has the watermark of Sora, an app from OpenAI which can generate videos from text-based prompts. The video (archived here) was posted on X by @DisrespectedThe on Oct. 6,…

Did President Trump sign an executive order demanding that Universal Music Group sign his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to a multi-album record deal? No, that's not true: The claim posted on a self-described parody account on X has no basis in reality. The White House website does not mention such an executive order. President Trump has not posted anything about it…

Did the FBI have 274 plainclothes agents undercover and embedded in January 6 crowds at the US Capitol? No, that's not true: Many of 274 FBI agents documented in a report were part of the law enforcement response after the crowd stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The agents were not undercover nor were they embedded in the crowd.…

Does a viral post tell a true story of Hank Wilcox, a 71-year-old farmer and the father of a deceased service member, helping migrants with free water in "Henry County,"? No, that's not true: News reports about the farmer cited in viral posts about the story were nowhere to be found. The post contained an image that was likely generated…

Did President Trump sign into law an income tax exemption for families making less than $120,000? No, that's not true: No such exemption has passed the U.S. House and Senate. There is no such exemption on the official list of laws signed by Trump. The claim appeared in a September 4, 2025 TikTok video (archived here) published by the AppalachianQueen5…

Did George Strait say Garth Brooks had been "begging country stars to help him get back into the world he tossed in the trash for wokeness"? No, that's not true: That quote originated on a satirical Facebook page. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The image appeared in a reel…

Does a viral social media chart correctly represent the portion of the transgender population that had committed a mass shooting or the share of mass shootings according to gender identification between 2015 and 2025? No, that's not true: The charts supply no source for those numbers. Organizations that professionally track mass shootings using police records and public information had not,…