Did U.S. Special Forces arrest Attorney General Merrick Garland on January 29, 2024? No, that's not true: This claim appeared on a website that publishes fabricated content. The Posse Comitatus Act also prohibits the U.S. military from arresting civilians unless authorized to do so under an act of Congress. There is no evidence that any such authorization was applied to Garland.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on January 30, 2024, titled "Merrick Garland Arrested!" (archived here), which opened:
U.S. Special Forces on Monday arrested the Deepest of Deep State fugitives, Attorney General Merrick Garland, following prolonged surveillance that began last week when he deplaned a flight that originated in Warsaw, Poland, and landed at Dulles International Airport.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Merrick Garland Arrested!
U.S. Special Forces on Monday arrested the Deepest of Deep State fugitives, Attorney General Merrick Garland, following prolonged surveillance that began last week when he deplaned a flight that originated in Warsaw, Poland, and landed at Dulles International Airport.
A Google News search (archived here) using key phrases "U.S. Special Forces" AND "arrested" AND "Attorney General Merrick Garland" on January 29, 2024, did not produce any results to substantiate this claim.
A January 29, 2024, AP News article (archived here) reported that Garland will be undergoing back surgery soon and is expected to return to work the week of February 5, 2024. There was no mention of Garland being under arrest.
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 authorization.
Lead Stories reached out to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for a statement concerning the validity of this claim. This fact check will be updated if a response is received.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks that mention Merrick Garland can be read 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.
