Texas

Did Kamala Harris let 500,000 criminals, including 15,000 rapists and 13,000 murderers, into the United States and they are now "roaming the country"? No, that's not true: A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Lead Stories that the "data goes back decades" and is being "misinterpreted." Most of these individuals did not arrive during the Biden-Harris administration, according to Immigration…

Was a little boy, approximately 2 or 3 years old, found unattended in several locations, and is he now being cared for at a police station? No, that's not true: The posts circulating on social media are not based on a real, ongoing incident. The deceptive posts use the same photos and captions, but change the name of the town…

Did Navy SEALs raid a warehouse belonging to rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs and seize a stockpile of adrenochrome that he used as a drug at his orgies? No, that's not true: The story is from a website that regularly publishes fabricated content, and there's no proof that any such military operation ever took place. Adrenochrome has long been the subject…

Did tennis star Serena Williams die following a tragic car crash in Texas in September 2024, as a post on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: As of September 25, 2024, there was no evidence to suggest that Williams had died. The legendary athlete posted on Instagram after the post about her supposed car crash was published. No major media…

Do archived radar images show that 5G or NEXRAD towers emit pulses of weaponized microwave energy targeting the U.S. population while they sleep? No, that's not true: An expert in radar ornithology says the radar has picked up "bird echoes" with the blooms appearing around each radar station about an hour after sunset when birds take off in large numbers…

Does footage of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's first flight actually show the desert landscape of Algeria and not Mars in the background? No, that's not true: Footage of the takeoff and landing of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, posted on YouTube by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, does not show the same scenery as pictured in an Instagram post. The real footage…

Are social media posts about a 3-year-old girl named Mila, who supposedly went missing and was saved by "Deputy Sara Thomas" in several locations simultaneously, authentic? No, that's not true: This is a common bait-and-switch scam in which social media users post heart-tugging stories they later edit to display supposed real estate offerings. The same post often circulates under the…

Are social media posts about a missing teenager named "Kaitlin Whoolery" authentic? No, that's not true: Whoolery died in April 2024, but posts about her disappearance were still being posted in September 2024. These posts about Whoolery are part of a "bait-and-switch" tactic commonly used on Facebook where heart-wrenching stories are swapped out for scams involving real estate ads after…

Does a video show vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz dancing in a cowboy hat and revealing two-piece outfit? No, that's not true: The original video features another person. The face in the video was altered to look like Walz. The claim was implied in a post (archived here) published on X on September 4, 2024. The post…

Are social media posts about a fruitless three-day search to find the owners of a lost dog authentic? No, that's not true: These are bait-and-switch posts that flip to real estate ads. Identical images of a "really depressed" dog in a cage have appeared in posts on Facebook in cities and states miles apart. All these posts ask users to…