Did U.S. Marines "kill" Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "Managing Officer" Aaron Aranas by fatally shooting him on November 24, 2023? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer confirmed to Lead Stories that this claim is false. The claim appeared in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content often mistaken for real news.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on November 26, 2023, titled "Marines Kill CDC Official During Arrest" (archived here), which began:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Managing Officer Aaron Aranas was shot dead Friday morning when he and two bodyguards exchanged gunfire with a U.S. Marine reconnaissance unit that had been dispatched to arrest him on charges of treason, a source in General Eric M. Smith's office told Real Raw News.
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Marines Kill CDC Official During Arrest
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Managing Officer Aaron Aranas was shot dead Friday morning when he and two bodyguards exchanged gunfire with a U.S. Marine reconnaissance unit that had been dispatched to arrest him on charges of treason, a source in General Eric M. Smith's office told Real Raw News.
Lead Stories reached out to the Pentagon to ask about the claim about Aranas. In an email on November 29, 2023, a duty officer responded:
This is untrue.
Real Raw News
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 "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 declares the site does not stand by the contents of the stories, calling them entertainment. Specifically, it says:
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. ... 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 are collected here.
