Did the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) convict and sentence U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley to "hang"? No, that's not true: The website where this claim was made has a disclaimer that states it publishes satirical content. Fictional stories from the site are often copied by other sites that falsely present them as news.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on October 11, 2023, titled "JAG Convicts, Sentences Mark Milley to Hang" (archived here). It opened:
10/10/2023. GITMO.
A three-officer panel at Guantanamo Bay convicted disgraced former General Mark A. Milley of treason and sentenced him to hang after a military tribunal that saw Vice Adm. Darse E. Crandall lose his cool to Milley's provocative spurs.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
JAG Convicts, Sentences Mark Milley to Hang
10/10/2023. GITMO. A three-officer panel at Guantanamo Bay convicted disgraced former General Mark A. Milley of treason and sentenced him to hang after a military tribunal that saw Vice Adm. Darse E. Crandall lose his cool to Milley's provocative spurs.
A Google News search (archived here) using the keywords "Judge Advocate General Convicts, Sentences Mark Milley to Hang" produced no results substantiating the claim in the article.
Lead Stories requested the Pentagon to confirm or deny this claim and will update this fact check if a response is received.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks that mention Mark Milley can be read here.
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 its About Us 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 Us 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.
