Was actor Alec Baldwin arrested, convicted and then sentenced to death by the U.S. military? No, no part of the claim is true: Baldwin was seen in a New York City park with his children a day before the story making the death-sentence claim was published. The claim was published by Real Raw News, a site known for writing false claims about public figures.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) by Real Raw News on May 23, 2022, under the title "Military Sentences Alec Baldwin to Death." It opened:
The military tribunal of depraved actor Alec Baldwin was over almost as soon as it began.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Real Raw News screenshot taken on Tue May 24 14:47:55 2022 UTC)
According to the article, Baldwin was arrested on May 1, 2022, sent to Guantanamo Bay to await military tribunal, then convicted and sentenced to death on May 16, 2022.
The Daily Mail reported that Baldwin was seen at Washington Square Park in New York City on May 22, 2022, a day before the Real Raw News article was published. The Daily Mail story included photos.
Lead Stories contacted the Pentagon to ask about the Real Raw News claim. We will update this story once we receive a reply.
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).
The website for Real Raw News 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 covered claims published by Real Raw News in the past. Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items is collected here.
Lead Stories also has debunked several claims involving Alec Baldwin, you can see those here.
