Did the military arrest Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden, on August 30, 2021? No, that's not true: It is not even possible, as the Posse Comitatus Act makes it a federal crime to use the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement. Also, the claim is made on a website known for publishing false assertions and that Lead Stories has previously debunked on numerous occasions.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by Real Raw News on August 30, 2021. The post, which was titled, "Military Arrests Hunter Biden," opens:
Elements of the U.S. military working under JAG authority arrested Hunter Biden on Monday morning as he and two underage female companions tried to reenter the United States after deboarding a chartered flight that originated in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
This is how the article looked on September 1, 2021:
Military Arrests Hunter Biden - Real Raw News
Elements of the U.S. military working under JAG authority arrested Hunter Biden on Monday morning as he and two underage female companions tried to reenter the United States after deboarding a chartered flight that originated in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. According to sources familiar with the arrest, U.S. Customs and Immigration Services detained [...]
The Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878, does not allow the U.S. military to arrest U.S. citizens or enforce domestic law, and it is considered a federal crime to employ members of the armed forces in that way.
A Google search using the keywords "Hunter Biden Arrest," and looking at what is trending on Twitter does not reveal any news coverage of such an arrest contemporaneous to this claim.
Real Raw News has a long history of publishing false claims in mock news stories, many of them about convictions and executions of various public figures at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. For example, the site reported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hanged (she wasn't); former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta was executed (he wasn't); and that "the military" convicted former Attorney General William Barr on charges of treason (it didn't).
Lead Stories has covered claims published by Real Raw News in the past. Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items is collected here.
The website for Real Raw News also includes a disclaimer that warns readers not to take its content too seriously. Specifically, it says:
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel.
(Source: RealRawNews.com screenshot taken Tue Aug 3 16:39:48 UTC 2021)
Lead Stories has reached out to the Pentagon regarding the validity of Hunter Biden being arrested recently and will update this article as appropriate when we receive a reply.
