Did U.S. Marines rescue 11 children who were purportedly imprisoned in Kansas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories that this claim is false. Also, this claim appeared in an article on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on April 10, 2024, and titled "Marines Rescue 11 Kidnapped Children in Kansas" (archived here). The article began with the statement:
United States Marines on Saturday liberated 11 children whom FEMA had imprisoned inside a dormant boxcar on an abandoned rail line stretching between Lane and Rush Counties in Kansas, a source in General Eric M. Smith's office told Real Raw News.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Marines Rescue 11 Kidnapped Children in Kansas
United States Marines on Saturday liberated 11 children whom FEMA had imprisoned inside a dormant boxcar on an abandoned rail line stretching between Lane and Rush Counties in Kansas, a source in General Eric M. Smith's office told Real Raw News.
A Pentagon duty officer responded via email on April 12, 2024, to an inquiry from Lead Stories about the claim. The duty officer, who did not provide a name, wrote:
This is false.
Lead Stories also contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a statement regarding the claim. A FEMA spokesperson responded via an April 12, 2024, email, writing:
This rumor is categorically false.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks that mention the U.S. Marines Corps and FEMA 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 can be read here.
