Did a "military commission" sentence Rear Adm. Michael Platt to death for committing treason and sedition? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that "the claim is false." This claim appeared in an article on a website that often publishes fabricated content.
It appeared in an article (archived here), which was published by Real Raw News on March 2, 2024, under the title "Deep State Admiral Convicted of Treason." It opened:
A Coast Guard admiral and military liaison to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been sentenced by a military commission to hang by the neck until dead for treason and sedition, a Guantanamo Bay source told Real Raw News.
As reported last month, Marines happened upon Rear Admiral Michael Platt while laying a trap to ensnare Mayorkas in Eagle Pass, Texas. Although Mayorkas never arrived at the embattled border city, Platt's presence there was viewed by White Hats as a consolation prize.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
(Source: Real Raw News screenshot taken on Wed Mar 6 18:13:11 2024 UTC)
In a February 29, 2024, fact check, Lead Stories previously debunked the claim that U.S. Marines arrested Rear Adm. Michael Platt.
In response to an inquiry from Lead Stories regarding the recent claim that Rear Adm. Platt. was sentenced to death by a U.S. military commission, a Pentagon duty officer wrote via email on March 6, 2024:
The claim is false.
Lead Stories also reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a statement regarding the validity of this claim. Erin Heeter, the assistant press secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, wrote via email on March 6, 2024:
This [claim] is inaccurate.
A search (archived here) of Google News' index of thousands of reliable information sources, using the keywords "Military Tribunal" AND "Sentenced To Death" AND "Rear Admiral Michael Platt" AND "Convicted of Treason" AND "February 29, 2024", produced no results to substantiate this claim.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks mentioning the U.S. Marines Corps and Real Raw News can be found 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.
