Did U.S. Special Forces "rescue" military and civilian "J6ers" from a "deep state" prison in the Aleutian Islands on April 7, 2024? No, that's not true: This claim appears on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. Also, no credible reports have been published that substantiate this claim, and there is no proof such a prison exists.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by Real Raw News on April 22, 2024, under the title "Special Forces Rescue Military and Civilian J6ers from Deep State Prison." It began:
United States Special Forces on April 7 raided a Deep State prison in the Aleutian Islands and freed 27 patriotic political prisoners whose only crime was peacefully visiting the Capitol on January 6, 2021, sources in General Eric M. Smith's office told Real Raw News.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
(Source: Real Raw News screenshot taken on Wed Apr 24 17:41:43 2024 UTC)
None of the 27 people who were purportedly held in the "Deep State prison in the Aleutian Islands" were named, and sources cited in the story were not identified.
Lead Stories searched using keywords on Google News, which is visible here, and found no credible documents or reporting to corroborate the claim.
For response to the claim, Lead Stories contacted these organizations:
- Office of the Secretary of Defense (awaiting a response at the time of writing)
- The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (the article says the island of the supposed prison has a controlled airport managed by "the State of Alaska Department of Transportation"). In response to our inquiry, that department referred Lead Stories to the U.S. Department of Defense.
- The Federal Bureau of Prisons (which responded that this organization does not preside over any prisons in or around Alaska).
- Alaska Department of Public Safety (awaiting a response at the time of writing).
This fact check will be updated with any responses received.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning January 6, 2021, and the U.S. Capitol are 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.
