Did U.S. Navy forces at Guantanamo Bay shoot down uncrewed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, to fend off a "deep state drone attack"? No, that's not true: The U.S. Navy has not released any report about an attempted attack on Guantanamo Bay. The website where this claim was made has a disclaimer that states it publishes fabricated content.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on December 5, 2023, with the title "GITMO Fends Off Deep State Drone Attack" (archived here). The article claimed:
U.S. Navy forces at Guantanamo Bay shot down a pair of MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that penetrated the base's air defense identification zone on Saturday night, JAG sources told Real Raw News.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
GITMO Fends Off Deep State Drone Attack
U.S. Navy forces at Guantanamo Bay shot down a pair of MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that penetrated the base's air defense identification zone on Saturday night, JAG sources told Real Raw News.
Lead Stories found no evidence that U.S. naval forces had shot down any drones in defense against a "deep state attack" at GITMO, as there are no announcements (archived here) from the U.S. Navy from November 28, 2023, to December 6, 2023, that confirm such an event.
Google News' index of thousands of credible news sites also did not reveal any evidence of this claim when Lead Stories did a search (archived here) of key phrases that are central to the claim made in this article.
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 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.
