Fact check: Image shows altered headline about Pentagon cop dealing fentanyl on Halloween

Ana Faguy, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Image shows a headline about a cop who was caught dealing fentanyl to children on Halloween

The Drug Enforcement Administration released a statement in August warning the public about colorful fentanyl and the risk it's candy-like appearance potentially posed to children. In the days leading up to Halloween, some social media users shared misinformation regarding the potential for those colorful fentanyl pills to appear among Halloween candy.

One such Nov. 1 Instagram post shows an image of a  headline about a cop who was caught dealing fentanyl during Halloween.

"Off-Duty Pentagon Cop Caught Dealing Fentanyl to Children During Trick or Treating," reads the purported headline.

But the headline in the image is altered. While it uses the font and style of headlines published by the Daily Beast, and wording similar to that of an actual Oct. 31 article from the outlet about an off-duty Pentagon cop who was caught allegedly dealing cocaine, the outlet did not publish such a headline. The editor-in-chief of the Daily Beast told USA Today the outlet never ran the fabricated headline about fentanyl. USA TODAY could find no story with that headline.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.

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There are a few things you need to keep in mind to make sure your children have a safe Halloween.
There are a few things you need to keep in mind to make sure your children have a safe Halloween.

Image in post resembles a Daily Beast article

USA TODAY could not find a headline that matched the purported story in the image. But parts of the image were similar to an Oct. 31 story the Daily Beast published titled, "Off-Duty Pentagon Cop Caught Dealing Cocaine, Police Say."

The story was written by Justin Rohrlich, the same author listed in the Instagram image. The photos in the genuine Daily Beast story also match the photos included in the Instagram post.

Despite these similarities, the purported headline about the man dealing drugs on Halloween could not be found on the Daily Beast's website. "This is not an authentic Daily Beast screenshot and the image has clearly been manipulated by a third party," Tracy Connor, the outlet's editor-in-chief, told USA TODAY in an email.

Altered headlines are a common form of misinformation. USA TODAY has previously debunked fake headlines attributed to The Atlantic, BBC and Global News.

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Our rating: Altered

Based on our research, we rate ALTERED an image that claims to show a headline about a cop who was caught dealing fentanyl to children on Halloween. The Daily Beast's editor-in-chief said the headline was not published by the outlet despite visual similarities.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Image altered to show fake story on cop dealing fentanyl