Did the U.S. Judge Advocate General's Corps arrest a "third" Colorado Supreme Court justice who voted in favor of removing former President Donald Trump from the ballot in the state for the 2024 presidential election? No, that's not true: This claim appears in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. Lead Stories previously debunked claims about two other Colorado Supreme Court justices who were purportedly arrested on these same charges. This most recent claim names Richard Gabriel as the third justice to be allegedly arrested.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on February 28, 2024, and titled "JAG Arrests THIRD Criminal Colorado Supreme Court Justice" (archived here). It began:
The United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps now has custody of three of the four Colorado Supreme Court justices who tried striking President Trump's name from the state's primary ballot, a JAG source told Real Raw News. As reported previously, White Hats arrested Justices Monica Marquez and William Hood in December and January, respectively, saying in a criminal affidavit that their irrational, seething hatred for President Trump engendered an atmosphere of radicalism and constitutional hatred within the state's courts.
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JAG Arrests THIRD Criminal Colorado Supreme Court Justice
The United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps now has custody of three of the four Colorado Supreme Court justices who tried striking President Trump's name from the state's primary ballot, a JAG source told Real Raw News. As reported previously, White Hats arrested Justices Monica Marquez and William Hood in December and January, respectively, saying in a criminal affidavit that their irrational, seething hatred for President Trump engendered an atmosphere of radicalism and constitutional hatred within the state's courts.
In a December 22, 2023, fact check and a January 3, 2024, fact check, Lead Stories debunked the claims that the U.S. military arrested Colorado Supreme Court Justice Monica Marquez and Colorado Supreme Court Justice William Hood in connection with removing Trump from the 2024 Colorado presidential election ballot.
In response to an inquiry from Lead Stories, Rob McCallum, a public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Department, wrote via email on March 4, 2024:
[This claim is] False.
A Google News search (archived here) using the keywords "United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps" AND "Arrested" AND "Colorado Supreme Court Justice Richard Gabriel" AND "February 23, 2024" also produced no results to substantiate this claim.
A search (archived here) of the Colorado Judicial Branch website using the same keywords did not reveal any results to substantiate the claim that Gabriel had recently been arrested.
The article also claimed that the four justices will be tried "jointly" by Vice Admiral 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 claim that Crandall had announced the arrests of notable people, death sentences, and hangings.
Lead Stories contacted the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense for a statement regarding the validity of this claim. This fact check will be updated 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)
Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items can be read here.
