Is COVID-19 virus part of a conspiracy that has a scripted narrative designed to justify closed borders and inspire residents to stay at home? No, that's not true: A conspiracy theory on Facebook claims that the coronavirus outbreak is a move by the government against the so-called "Deep State" - a phrase common to right-wing conspiracy theorists that has not been proven to be true. This is a made-up theory with no backing other than the imaginations of people who refuse to believe the novel coronavirus is anything other than a real, global medical threat that started in Wuhan, China.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published by Ben Grady on Facebook on March 13, 2020, under the title "Latest Intel". It opened:
COVID-19 Virus Movie is a Scripted Narrative designed to Justify Closed Borders and Inspire Citizens to Stay Home While upwards of 500,000 Arrests (158,000+ Sealed Indictments Opened) will take place in USA & Greater Numbers World Wide for Horrendous Crimes to Humanity & Corruptions related to Human Sex & Child Trafficking, a Depopulation agenda by Globalists, Illegal Organ Harvesting, Opioid Fentanyl Epidemic linked to China & Britain and other nations Implementing Espionage Plans for the USA. This is a Military Operation that is being modeled after Sun Tzu warfare. The Military & Trump Administration is Pivoting against Deep State Tactics as a Strategy that will have the Lowest Negative Impact to Innocent Citizens whole Freeing The World from Decades of Brainwashing to Mask Evil Operations that Operate a $150 Billion Year Child Trafficking Network by Deep State. Over 800,000 children in USA an 8,000,000 Globally Go Missing annually. Trump & White Hat Military Alliance is Ending this Evil Covered up by Fake News. THE STORM IS HERE - The Great Awakening
Social media users saw this on Facebook:
As evidence of the situation's seriousness, President Trump, as well as leaders around the world, have taken drastic actions to try to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus - which has been declared a national emergency in the United States, deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization, caused countries to lockdown populations and sickened and killed thousands of people.
Simply put, the medical crisis sweepig the globe has nothing to do with the right-wing conspiracy about sex-trafficked children, as the post suggests. Still, Grady's Facebook page is filled with many such posts.
On March 17, 2020, Grady posted this to Facebook:
A week earlier, he posted this:
Users on Grady's Facebook page have called out his rants, including the post on March 13, 2020, laying out the supposed scripted narrative.
One user simply said; "Laughable. This is,some weird,conspiracy theory shit."
In fact, the National Institutes of Health released a statement on March 17, 2020, imploring people to follow medical guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus - which has no known cure at this time. The orgnizations's website has this written on top:
COVID-19 is an emerging, rapdily evolving situation.
Contagion, a 2011 scripted movie that did fictionally depict a deadly outbreak, has soared into iTunes' top-10 movie rental charts since January, the month when the coronavirus first was diagnosed in the United States.
While hoaxes and conspiracies have gone viral amid the coronavirus outbreak, Lead Stories has debunked a great many of them. Here's a sampling:
- Fact Check: Italy Has NOT Mandated No Treatment Of All Elderly With Coronavirus
- Fact Check: A Banana A Day Does NOT Keep The Coronavirus Away
- Fact Check: 15 Minutes In Sauna Will NOT Kill The Coronavirus
- Fact Check: A Dog Vaccine Can NOT Be Used To Inoculate People Against Coronavirus
- Fact Check: The CDC Is NOT Warning People The Morel Mushroom Increases Coronavirus Risk By 200%
- Fact Check: Baby Formula NOT Necessarily Being Shipped For Free During Coronavirus Outbreak
- Fact Check: Train Was NOT Marked With "COVID-19" On Its Side
- Fact Check: NOT 10,000 Deaths In Virus Outbreak in Michigan, Washington, Idaho, North Dakota, Missouri, Mississippi
- Fact Check: CDC Did NOT Recommend Men Shave Their Beards To Protect Against Coronavirus
- Fact Check: Florida Man NOT Arrested For Robbery Using Cough As A Weapon
- Fact Check: Lysol Products Can Kill Older Strains Of Coronavirus, But Tests Have NOT Scientifically Proven They Kill Novel Coronavirus
- Fact Check: Hair Weaves And Lace Front Wigs Made In China NOT Likely To Contain Coronavirus
- Fact Check: Scientists Did NOT Discover That Cocaine Kills Coronavirus
- Fact Check: NO Evidence Coronavirus Is Bioweapon Leaked From Wuhan Lab
- Fake News: Six Coronavirus Cases NOT Confirmed In Wichita, Kansas (Or Several Other U.S. Cities)
- Fake News: 20 Million Chinese Did NOT Convert To Islam, And It Was NOT Proven That Coronavirus Epidemic Did Not Afflict Muslims
- Fake News: NO Evidence To Support Claim From Bioweapons Expert Who Says Coronavirus Is Biological Warfare Weapon
- Fake News: Popping Bubble Wrap Does NOT Expose People To Coronavirus
- Fake News: Data From Windy.com Does NOT Show Massive Release Of Sulfur Dioxide Gas Near Wuhan
- Fake News: Latest Research Published By Chinese Scientists Did NOT Say Coronavirus Will Render Most Male Patients Infertile
- Fake News: NO Proof That High-Rise Buildings Have Become Human Incinerators To Combat Coronavirus
- Fake News: Residential Building NOT In Wuhan, NOT Set Ablaze To Control Coronavirus Spread
