Did U.S. Navy SEALs save missing Maui children imprisoned in padlocked cages in Honolulu Harbor? No, that's not true: This claim is from a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. If this claim were true, there would be significant news coverage to substantiate it -- and there has not been.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on September 17, 2023, titled "Navy SEALs Save Missing Maui Children" (archived here). It opened:
United States Navy SEALs on Thursday found 15 missing Maui children imprisoned in padlocked cages lined with piddle pads at a warehouse near Pier 51 in Honolulu Harbor, but repatriating them with their families has proven problematic, a source in General Eric M. Smith's office told Real Raw News.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Navy SEALs Save Missing Maui Children
United States Navy SEALs on Thursday found 15 missing Maui children imprisoned in padlocked cages lined with piddle pads at a warehouse near Pier 51 in Honolulu Harbor, but repatriating them with their families has proven problematic, a source in General Eric M. Smith's office told Real Raw News.
A Google News search (archived here) using the keywords from the article produced no results substantiating this claim.
Lead Stories contacted the U.S. Navy about the Real Raw News claim and will update this fact check if a response is received.
Real Raw News
Real Raw News is a website that consistently publishes made-up stories about U.S. politics. The well-written English and news-style layout of the website make it look like a legitimate news source, so it often fools people into believing the stories are real. Screenshots and copies of the stories regularly turn up on other websites or on social media where they are presented as real.
It bills itself as "humor, parody and satire" on the "about" page (archived here):
Disclaimer:
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.
The same "about" page claims the main author is a man named Michael Baxter. In 2021 a PolitiFact article (archived here) identified the writer as a "Michael Tuffin" in Texas based on records found in a GoFundMe campaign set up to support the site.
NewsGuard, a tool that provides credibility ratings for websites, published a five-page PDF report (archived here) in 2021 describing realrawnews.com as, "An anonymously run website that has published baseless and debunked conspiracies about COVID-19 and U.S. politics." It cautioned that the website severely violates basic journalistic standards."
Lead Stories has covered claims published by Real Raw News in the past. Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items are collected here.
