Did U.S. Marines "kick ... out" the Federal Emergency Management Agency from Tennessee following a disaster recent as of December 21, 2023? No, that's not true: A FEMA representative told Lead Stories, "FEMA teams are on the ground in Tennessee working with state and local officials in assisting those in need after the tornado of December 9th." The claim appeared in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content that is often mistaken for real news.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on December 14, 2023, titled "Marines Kick FEMA Out of Tennessee" (archived here). It began:
United States Marines on Monday unceremoniously ejected FEMA from Tennessee, where agents of the criminal agency had hoped to terrorize and loot God-fearing citizens whose lives turned to shambles after a freak winter tornado outbreak struck parts of Nashville and Clarksville Saturday night.
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Marines Kick FEMA Out of Tennessee
United States Marines on Monday unceremoniously ejected FEMA from Tennessee, where agents of the criminal agency had hoped to terrorize and loot God-fearing citizens whose lives turned to shambles after a freak winter tornado outbreak struck parts of Nashville and Clarksville Saturday night.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 4 representative responded to Lead Stories about the claim via a December 20, 2023, email, writing:
FEMA teams are on the ground in Tennessee working with state and local officials in assisting those in need after the tornado of December 9th.
I'm sharing with you a fact sheet that will give you an overview of what's available in the area in terms of assistance.
You can also visit FEMA's website, fema.gov, for more information on this disaster, DR-4751-TN.
The information that the representative mentioned is located on multiple fact sheets on the FEMA.gov website. The Tennessee Severe Storms And Tornadoes (DR-4751-TN) incident was declared a disaster on December 13, 2023, by FEMA -- two days after the article claimed that U.S. Marines had "ejected" FEMA from Tennessee. Following the declaration, federal disaster assistance was made available and approved by President Joe Biden alongside FEMA. As of December 20, 2023, more disaster recovery centers have been opened by FEMA in multiple counties in Tennessee.
A Google News search (archived here) using "U.S. Marines" AND "FEMA" AND "Tennessee" plus the purported date of "ejection" also produced no results to substantiate this claim.
More Lead Stories fact checks that mention the U.S. Marines and FEMA are here.
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.
