Did Special Forces soldiers unleash "a hailstorm of gunfire" against Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) agents who were attacking and robbing Hurricane Ian victims in Florida? No, that's not true: A Pentagon spokesperson told Lead Stories that this story is false.
The claim appeared in a Real Raw News article published on September 29, 2022, and titled "Special Forces Fight FEMA Brigands in Storm-Battered Southwest Florida" (archived here).
The article opened:
As Hurricane Ian smashed into Southwest Florida and inundated entire communities, the criminal Biden regime's Federal Emergency Management Agency began a campaign of terror against displaced persons whose lives and homes the storm had shattered.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Special Forces Fight FEMA Brigands in Storm-Battered Southwest Florida | Real Raw News
According to the article, the U.S. Marine Corps and Special Forces devised a strategy to foil FEMA's plans to take advantage of Hurricane Ian victims. Fifth Special Forces Commander Col. Brent Lindeman allegedly requested permission to send soldiers into the affected areas to protect residents against FEMA agents. Lindeman's name and title are accurate.
In a September 30, 2022 email to Lead Stories, a Pentagon duty officer said that the report is inaccurate:
Thanks for your query; however, this story is false.
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)
Previous Lead Stories fact checks of Real Raw News claims can be found here.
