CLAIM: The U.S. Marine Corps “neutralized” a “fleeing FEMA convoy in Maui.”
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Social media users are sharing a post from a website that says it publishes “humor, parody, and satire” and has previously published similar false stories. A Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson confirmed the claim is “unequivocally false.”
THE FACTS: While Hawaii grieves losses sustained during the deadly Maui wildfires that started on Aug. 8, some on social media are sharing a post falsely claiming that the Marine Corps destroyed a FEMA convoy escaping the town of Lahaina for a nearby national park.
One TikTok video that shared screenshots of the post included a caption that stated, “#war.” It had received more than 4,300 views as of Monday.
But there is no truth to this claim.
The post is from Real Raw News, a site that frequently publishes fabricated stories and includes a disclaimer stating that it “contains humor, parody, and satire.” Many of its posts involve made-up stories about the Marine Corps, citing only anonymous military sources. The site did not return a request for comment.
A closer read of the post shows it did not provide any credible evidence for its claims, citing only one alleged anonymous “source in Gen. Smith’s office” — the same thing it has said in numerous prior erroneous posts.
It also includes an increasingly fanciful narrative that begins with the Marines jumping out from behind trees to surprise the FEMA workers, before a chase between the federal agency in a Mobile Command Center and the military in Hummers. It ends with the Marines using a grenade launcher to shoot down a helicopter.
FEMA Press Secretary Jeremy Edwards told The Associated Press that the claims made in the post are “unequivocally false.”
He also noted that “unfortunately, during any disaster, rumors can often spread quickly, negatively impacting survivors who are already faced with challenging circumstances” and pointed to a page on FEMA’s website dedicated to debunking disaster-related rumors.
The Marine Corps did not respond to a request for comment.
Other false narratives vilifying FEMA have spread in the aftermath of the wildfires, falsely claiming the agency could seize people’s property if they accept disaster aid. Disaster recovery experts and lawyers told the AP that such posts are misrepresenting federal law.
The Maui wildfires have killed at least 114 people and are the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
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