Did U.S. Navy Seal "white hats" kill two intruders at Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate on January 27, 2024? No, that's not true: This claim originated from a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. A Palm Beach Police Department representative told Lead Stories that there is "no record" of any such incident occurring at the Mar-A-Lago estate.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on January 29, 2024, titled "White Hats Kill Mar-a-Lago Intruder," (archived here) which opened:
President Donald J. Trump's military security force on Saturday engaged two intruders who tripped a Mar-a-Lago proximity alarm on the Lake Worth Lagoon side of the estate, Mar-a-Lago sources told Real Raw News. At approximately 2:00 a.m., sensors detected human movement near the estate's tennis courts, which ought to have been devoid of activity at that hour. The US Navy SEALs protecting Trump's Mar-a-Lago Command Center determined that two unknowns had surfaced from the shallow lagoon and climbed the wall onto Trump's property.
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White Hats Kill Mar-a-Lago Intruder
President Donald J. Trump's military security force on Saturday engaged two intruders who tripped a Mar-a-Lago proximity alarm on the Lake Worth Lagoon side of the estate, Mar-a-Lago sources told Real Raw News. At approximately 2:00 a.m., sensors detected human movement near the estate's tennis courts, which ought to have been devoid of activity at that hour. The US Navy SEALs protecting Trump's Mar-a-Lago Command Center determined that two unknowns had surfaced from the shallow lagoon and climbed the wall onto Trump's property.
Captain William Rothrock of the Palm Beach Police Department responded via email to an inquiry from Lead Stories regarding this claim on February 2, 2024, writing:
The Palm Beach Police Department, which services the jurisdiction that Mar a Lago is located in, has no record of the incident you have described.
A Google News search of the index of thousands of news sites (archived here) using the keywords "US Navy Seals" AND "Donald J. Trump" AND "Mar-a-Lago" AND "Kill" AND "Intruder" AND January 27, 2024 produced no results substantiating the claim in the article.
Lead Stories previously rated as false the claim that U.S. Marine Corps "white hats" were deployed to Miami, Florida, to protect former President Donald Trump following his June 9, 2023, indictment. Additional Lead Stories fact checks involving Donald Trump can be read here.
Lead Stories reached out to the Office of the Secretary of Defense 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.
