Was former U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George detained on suspicion of treason? No, that's not true: The claim was posted by a self-described parody website and it offered no supporting evidence of truth. The Pentagon did confirm on April 2, 2026, that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth relieved George of his duties and asked him to retire, but the reasons for this action were not immediately disclosed.
The claim originated in a post (archived here) published by the @RealRawNews1 X account on April 3, 2026. It read:
Per source, the US Army Criminal Investigation Division has detained former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, whom Hegseth fired yesterday, based on suspicion of treason. More when we have more info.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @RealRawNews1 on X.com.)
The website RealRawNews.com (archived here) associated with the X account acknowledges on its about page (archived here) that the stories are not real.
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel.
(Image source: realrawnews.com/about-us.)
A Google site search (archive here) of RealRawNews for the keyword "treason" showed the website frequently posts fake stories about arrests for treason.
Soon after news reports emerged on April 2, 2026, that Hegseth forced George out, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell issued this statement:
General Randy A. George will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately. The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement.
