Did U.S. Marines arrest former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that the claim is false. The claim appears in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on January 23, 2024, titled "Marines Arrest Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly" (archived here). It began:
Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was arrested by U.S. Marines last night on treason charges at his home in rural Pennsylvania, a source in General Eric. M. Smith's office told Real Raw News. He said an elite scout/sniper platoon surrounded Kelly's four-acre ranch, storming it after Kelly refused orders to step outside, unarmed, with his hands above his head.
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Marines Arrest Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly
Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was arrested by U.S. Marines last night on treason charges at his rural home in rural Pennsylvania, a source in General Eric. M. Smith's office told Real Raw News. He said an elite scout/sniper platoon surrounded Kelly's four-acre ranch, storming it after Kelly refused orders to step outside, unarmed, with his hands above his head.
(Source: Real Raw News screenshot taken on Thu Jan 25 13:57:43 2024 UTC)
The article claims that Kelly was arrested by U.S. Marines on January 22, 2024, and charged with committing treason.
A Pentagon duty officer responded via email to an inquiry from Lead Stories regarding the claim on January 25, 2024, writing:
This claim is false.
The article also said that the lawful arrest warrant was signed by Vice Adm. Darse E. Crandall. Crandall's name has been used multiple times in conspiracy articles published by Real Raw News. These present him as leading extrajudicial military tribunals and executions, which are a popular QAnon trope. A site-specific Google search for the term "Vice Adm. Crandall" (archived here) brings up more than 70 articles about events that didn't happen, but which claim that Crandall had announced the arrests of notable people, death sentences and hangings.
Under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, the military does not have the authority to arrest civilians. This act can be voided under certain circumstances explicitly authorized by the U.S. Constitution or Act of Congress. Congress.gov does not show legislation making such an authorization.
Additional stories that mention John Kelly, the U.S. Marines, and Real Raw News can be found here and 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.
