Does the film "Out of Shadows" prove a child-raping satanic cult controls the U.S. government and Hollywood, and operated out of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor? No, that's not true: The film declares that the lid came off in a leading Democrat's leaked emails, in which "pizza" is used as secret code for child sex. But the filmmakers provide nothing…

Did Florida pass a law granting immunity to people who drive through rioters amid BLM riots? Yes, but it only grants civil immunity, not criminal immunity. HB1, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 19, 2021, grants an "affirmative defense" that will provide people with immunity from civil liability if they kill or injure a protester with their car, according…

Did former President Donald Trump pick up the defense legal fees for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin? No, that's not true: The claim that Trump paid for Chauvin's defense in his trial for the murder of George Floyd is satire published by a website known for trolling conservatives. In fact, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association is funding…

Was Hillary Clinton convicted by a military tribunal on April 16, 2021? No, that's not true. "The story is false," the Defense Department press operations duty officer told Lead Stories via email on April 16, 2021.There is no military tribunal or trial being held where the former secretary of state is being prosecuted for crimes at the Guantanamo Bay Prison.…

Did deaths in 2020 caused by foreign objects placed in the rectum surpass total deaths from "AR" (Armalite Rifle) fire in the last five years? No, that claim cannot be supported with available data: As of April 16, 2021, there is no publicly available database of the number of deaths caused by people having foreign objects in their rectum, nor…

Does Burger King Corporation require its patrons to provide identification verifying a shared address in order to dine in at the same table? No, that's not true: While the Canadian province Manitoba implemented such a COVID-19 policy for restaurants, that is not a Burger King corporate policy. The claim appeared in several social media posts, including a Facebook post (archived…

Was Daunte Wright "wanted" for aggravated robbery and "on the run ever since"? No, that's not true: Wright had been charged with such a crime, but at the time of his death, April 11, 2021, there was no active warrant on that case. Wright had appeared in court as recently as January 25, 2021, and a jury trial was set…

Have all the nations of the world agreed to abandon the current global financial system and adopt one that will back currencies with gold and offer instantaneous transactions? No, that's not true: There is no verifiable record anywhere that the "Quantum Financial System" (QFS) exists, much less that it has been adopted globally. One of the most vocal QFS proponents…

Did Foot Locker donate "200 million dollars to BLM"? No, there is no evidence the company made a donation to Black Lives Matter. The athletic gear company made an announcement in 2020 that it was "committing $200 million over the next five years towards enhancing the lives of our team members and our customers in the Black Community through Economic…

Did Hillary Clinton face a military tribunal on April 8, 2021? No, that's not true. "The story is fabricated," the Defense Department press operations duty officer told Lead Stories via email on April 12, 2021. Lead Stories previously debunked the claim that Hillary Clinton was arrested by Navy SEALs in March 2021, with a U.S. Navy spokesperson on the record…

Did Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene scrub her Twitter account of support of Rep. Matt Gaetz? No, that's not true: Greene's Twitter is still full of tweets supporting Gaetz. The claim originated in a Facebook post (deleted as of April 13, 2021) where it was published by The National Strategic Stockpile of Memes and Satire on April 5 2021. It read:…

Did Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota say police shouldn't exist after learning some officers are Jewish? No, that's not true: the claim is from a self-proclaimed satire website about law enforcement. The claim has reappeared on social media from a post (archived here) originally published on Facebook on March 18, 2019. It was a screenshot of a headline and photo of…

Does a video featuring Michael Flynn and Thomas McInerney contain only factual and proven statements? No, that's not true: The video recycles, without repairing, multiple false claims about COVID-19 and the 2020 election that have already been debunked. This fact-check considers seven such claims, including the allegation that COVID-19 was a "deliberate biological attack," that the vaccines for the virus…

Did then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev say in a speech, "Your children's children will live under communism. You Americans are so gullible..." on September 29, 1959? And was this speech on the same day as the day he purportedly banged his shoe in the United Nations General Assembly Hall? No, that's not true: This letter-to-the-editor is a mixed combination of details…

Is President Biden's approval rating 11% according to Gallup? No, that's not true: Their most recent polling puts his approval rating at 54%, according to Gallup's website. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on April 6, 2021. It read: New Poll indicates Biden approval at 11%. The LOWEST approval rating of ANY president in American history. ~Gallup…

Is Georgia removing Coke from all state-owned buildings? No, that's not true: Although a group of GOP state legislators requested that Coca-Cola products be removed from their offices, there is no known effort to spread such a ban to all state-owned buildings. The lawmakers' request came on the heels of a statement from Coke's CEO, who criticized Georgia's new voting…

Was Joe Biden rushed to the hospital April 5, 2021? No, that's not true. Joe Biden had not been hospitalized in days leading up to and including April 5, 2021. He spent Easter Sunday at Camp David, as a photo on his daughter Ashley Biden's Instagram account showed. There is a video of Biden returning to the White House on…

Did Pete Buttigieg stage a short bike ride for a photo op? No, that's not true: The claim was made without proof, based on a short video clip that did not document his whole trip. The transportation secretary biked both to and from a Cabinet meeting at the White House, according to a spokesperson at the Department of Transportation (DOT).…

Did U.S. Special Forces arrest former Hillary Clinton campaign aides John Podesta and Huma Abedin? No, that's not true: There's no credible corroboration for an article that makes the claim, which rests on a purported single unnamed source. A spokesperson for the Department of Defense said the arrests did not happen. The website that published the story is known for…

Was 2010 census data used to cast fraudulent votes of dead voters and those who had changed addresses in a nationwide hack of the 2020 election? No, that's not true. By law, 2010 census data at the individual name level will not be available until 2082, and the U.S. Census Bureau and cybersecurity agencies say there has been no data…