Qanon

Were Mafia assassins dispatched to Rome during the Christmas holiday season to avenge the murder of Pope Francis? No, that's not true: The pope was alive on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Additionally, the claim primarily relies on several conspiracy theories to "prove" its case. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by BenjaminFulford.net on December 27, 2021,…

Did "cabal leaders" go to Antarctica to surrender to extraterrestrials and the Earth Alliance? No, that's not true: The article provides no verifiable evidence to support its story that terms for surrender are being negotiated. The article also includes fake tweets allegedly foreshadowing the meeting from global financial leaders and high-tech payment experts. The claim appeared in an article (archived…

Does this collection of images and this caption accurately portray protests against Austrian COVID-19 mandates between November and December of 2021, in the capital of Vienna? No, that's not true: Online reverse image searches reveal that two out of the four images depicted in this post do not even correlate to protests against COVID-19 mandates. These images are miscaptioned and…

Was a green screen used to produce one of the more memorable images of rioters inside the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021 -- with actors posing in another location and superimposed onto still and video images of the riot? No, that's not true: An image circulating online is a photoshopped prank composed of two different images after-the-fact. The…

Is humanity being held hostage by a new world order pushing COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: The video in this Facebook post recycles previously debunked claims about COVID and plays into the rhetoric of an elaborate QAnon story of a cabal of blood-drinking elites working for global dominion. The claims appear in a post (archived here) on November 16,…

Has the "Emergency Broadcast System" been activated? No, that's not true: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed to Lead Stories that the Emergency Alert System (EAS) has not been activated. If it had been, the protocol would be that the president of the United States would address the nation within 10 minutes of a national emergency. This has not…

Is Jacob Rothschild worth "$500 trillion" and does he own "every central bank in the world"? No, that's not true: A satirical meme posted about the wealthy Rothschild exaggerates his estimated $5 billion wealth and erroneously claims that he owns every central bank in the world. There is no evidence he has financed both sides of every war since Napoleon…

Did President Joe Biden resign and was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi detained? No, that's not true: The claims in this video and headline are not based in reality. This content is a mashup of material from various sources with a shocking headline intended to trick people into viewing the video. Lead Stories has previously noted this pattern of production in…

Did the U.S. Army Delta Force raid a storage facility on October 18, 2021? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that such a raid occurred and the claim was published on a known fake news website. The claim appeared as an article (archived here) published by Real Raw News on October 21, 2021, titled "Delta Force Raids Adrenochrome…

Were "50,000 secret USA troops" just deputized by Donald Trump? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that any service members have been deputized by former President Donald Trump and made "Federal Marshals." A parody Twitter account made the original claim and used non-related social media posts to make the false connection. Trump is no longer the commander in…