False claim Marines arrested CEO of COVID-19 vaccine maker Pfizer | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·3 min read
9

The claim: Marines arrested Pfizer CEO, killed two bodyguards

An Aug. 15 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a TikTok video of a woman talking about secretive military operations with a screenshot of a Real Raw News story in the background.

“United States Marines on Monday captured Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and killed his two bodyguards during a military-sanctioned operation to apprehend the fiendish clot shot manufacturer following his return to the United States,” the story begins.

It received more than 400 likes in less than a day. The original Real Raw News story posted Aug. 9 was shared on Facebook more than 400 times before it was deleted, according to CrowdTangle, a social media analytics tool.

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Our rating: False

A Pfizer spokesperson said the claim is false, and Bourla was posting on social media the day of his supposed arrest and a week later. The website where it appeared routinely publishes false claims about the pandemic and the arrests of high-profile figures.

Story published by site that frequently shares misinformation

In a one-word email to USA TODAY, a Pfizer spokesperson called the claim false.

On the day of his supposed arrest, Bourla posted a photo on social media of himself with a summer intern. He also made an additional post a week later.

There is no evidence that Marines captured Bourla or that his bodyguards were killed. No reputable news organizations reported the supposed arrest, and the incident was not mentioned anywhere on the U.S. Marine Corps website or its social media accounts.

USA TODAY reached out to the Marines for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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The story in question cites an unidentified person in the office of Gen. Eric Smith, the acting commandant of the Marines, as claiming Bourla’s arrest took place in early August. It goes on to claim he was apprehended in the back of a limousine outside a mansion in Newport Beach, California, after snipers fatally shot his bodyguards.

The story also claims that before he was arrested, Bourla had not been seen in the United States since November 2022.

But Bourla posted a photo on X, formerly Twitter, on July 21 that showed himself visiting the Pfizer facility in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, that was damaged two days earlier by a tornado.

Real Raw News is a serial spreader of misinformation that often publishes fabricated stories about "white hats" trying to undermine "the deep state" by arresting government officials and other high-profile people who became newsworthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A disclaimer on the “About Us” page for Real Raw News states it “contains humor, parody and satire.” But that notice is not included in individual stories on the website.

USA TODAY has previously debunked fabricated stories about COVID-19 by Real Raw News, including false claims that thousands of doctors were indicted for pandemic-related crimes and that Russia destroyed all of its COVID-19 vaccines.

USA TODAY reached out to Real Raw News for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Marines arrested CEO of vaccine maker Pfizer | Fact check