Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) hang "250 Deep State felons in October" 2023? 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 without any indication they are from a site that publishes satirical content.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on November 7, 2023, titled "JAG Hangs 250 in October" (archived here), which opened:
The United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corp staff at Camp Blaz executed over 250 Deep State felons in October, sources in Guam told Real Raw News.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
JAG Hangs 250 in October
The United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corp staff at Camp Blaz executed over 250 Deep State felons in October, sources in Guam told Real Raw News.
A Google News search (archived here) using the keywords "The United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corp staff at Camp Blaz executed over 250 Deep State felons in October" produced no results substantiating the claim in the article.
Lead Stories reached out to the Pentagon and the U.S. Navy for a response. This fact check will be updated if a response is received.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps 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 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.
