Did the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report 1,739 deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: There's no public evidence the vaccine caused deaths. As its source, the claim cites the government's rough list of unverified reports: Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Anyone can report events to VAERS, and the reports -- on their…

Did a buff father who "identifies as the tooth fairy" knock the teeth out of a man pretending to identify as a woman who followed his daughter into a public restroom? No, that's not true: The meme is a mash-up of fabricated events that mock transgender women, attached to an authentic photo of a protective father. The memes featuring this…

Was children's show host Fred Rogers photographed wearing a Bob Ross T-shirt while hanging out with naturalist Steve Irwin? No, that's not true. The viral image is a composite of two different photos of Rogers and Irwin, both deceased. The two were never together for a photograph and the spoofer also added a Bob Ross logo and rainbow sky to…

Did Donna and Rosy Khalife net "the biggest deal in 'Shark Tank' history" by pitching "powerful quit smoking CBD Gummies"? No, that's not true: When the Khalife sisters appeared on the ABC television program, they sought funding for the company they co-founded, Surprise Ride, a box subscription service focused on hands-on learning activities for children. But a post falsely claims…

Is the COVID-19 positivity rate among migrants at the border "upwards of around 50%"? No, that's not true: It's less than 6%, according to the acting chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The claim cited the National Sheriffs' Association as its source when, in fact, that group has said that estimates fall between 5% and 50%. The claim…

Is the Gates Foundation a multinational corporation that profits from vaccines as part of a U.S. government plot hatched in the 1970s to depopulate developing countries? No, that's not true: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a registered nonprofit that doesn't pay dividends or capital gains to shareholders. The video cites a declassified 1974 document as proof of the…

Did "Park Rangers and Vet Offices" put out warnings about an unusually high number of hawks endangering small pets this year? No, that's not true: This post has been circulating on social media for several years, at least since 2015, and the specific "Park Rangers and Vet Offices" that purportedly issued those warnings in the first place have never been…

Did 2,000 people die from the COVID-19 vaccine and do people over 60 need someone to stay with them for up to 20 days after getting the vaccine, as a health precaution? No, that is misleading. There is no proof that the deaths of people who have been vaccinated were caused by the COVID-19 shots. Multiple experts told Lead Stories…

Do "medbeds" exist? Will they be available soon? No, that's not true: There's no publicly available evidence such devices are real. The claim is situated within the broader QAnon conspiracy theory that believes the world is controlled by a satanic "deep state." It alleges that "medbeds" can make people decades younger, rebuild limbs and cure disease. There's nothing in the…

Did Tom Hanks die of coronavirus in March of 2020? Or, were reports of his 'death' last year just a code to let certain people know that he had been indicted? Was Hanks then executed in May of 2020? Has the public been tricked with computer-generated imagery (CGI) to believe that Tom Hanks has been alive all along? No, these…

Did President Biden cause the early 2021 increase in the price of gasoline? No, that's not true: petroleum industry analysts agree that prices nearly doubled in less than a year for several reasons not under the control of any president: rising demand as more people travel due to a stronger economy and waning COVID concerns, a stagnant supply caused by…

Did the Atlanta spa shootings happen hours after a Donald Trump interview on Fox News? No, that's not true: Although they took place on the same day, March 16, 2021, Trump's interview, in which he referred to COVID-19 as "the China virus", aired after the Atlanta-area shootings that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent. The claim…

Did 9,000 "illegals" enter the United States in all of 2020 versus 108,000 in the first three months of 2021? No, that's not true: The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed to Lead Stories the agency's numbers are vastly different from those in a posted claim. In the 2020 calendar year 547,816 people were apprehended entering…

Does mass vaccination amid the COVID-19 pandemic create an "irrepressible monster" of disease? No, that's not true: Vaccines represent one of our best hopes of stopping the spread of the virus and its variants, according to medical experts. Viral evolution is normal and will happen -- in fact, has already happened -- with or without a vaccine, virologists say. When…

Is there a phone scam in which "these guys only ring once and hang up," and if you call back, they can copy your contact list in three seconds as well as your "bank or credit details"? No, that's not true: But, an AT&T spokesman emailed Lead Stories there is a scam by which a caller rings once and hangs…

Does this video show a "green screen fail" that proves Joe Biden was deceptively edited into video of a quick exchange with reporters at the White House? No, that's not true. The 46th president was live and in person at the presidential home in Washington, D.C., March 16, 2021, and multiple news outlets independently published reports of his exchange with…

Did Robert Aaron Long, the suspect taken into custody after a string of shootings at massage parlors in the Atlanta area, make this anti-China post on Facebook before the deadly March 16, 2021 shootings? No, that's not true: This screenshot is a manufactured hoax. The exact origins of the screenshot hoax are unknown, but an early version appeared as a…

Does Israel's vaccination data reveal a "frightening" death rate for elderly patients injected with Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: This "new holocaust" conspiracy theory is contradicted by peer-reviewed medical studies and Israel's Health Department. A University of Washington vaccine researcher said that's enough to call into question the methodology behind the claim. Lead Stories finds the analysis behind…

Were the deaths of baseball great Hank Aaron and famed boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler caused by the COVID-19 vaccine? No, there's no publicly available evidence that's true: Hagler's wife said the vaccine "for sure" did not cause the death of her husband. Aaron's death was similarly not related to the vaccine, according to the medical examiner's office in Fulton County,…

Does a video of then-Sen. Joe Biden saying that the upbringing and background of future criminals does not matter show "what Biden really thinks about Black Americans"? No, that's not true: Biden did not mention race when he made a Senate speech some 27 years ago in support of a crime bill. There is no reference to race in the…