By: Rajini KG
March 7 2024
White House’s chief science advisor Arati Prabhakar has not been ‘executed’ for treason
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Screenshot of the viral Real Raw News article circulating online. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict False
The claim was first published by Real Raw News, a website known to spread misinformation. Prabhakar is very much alive and was never arrested.
Claim ID cf042304
What is the claim?
A screenshot of a news article headlined "JAG Hangs Biden's Chief Science Officer for Treason" has been circulating on social media. The screenshot shows a picture of Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, included in the article authored by Michael Baxter. The February 29 report in the screenshot alleges that the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) 'executed' Arati Prabhakar on February 27. The United States Navy JAG Corps is part of the armed forces judicial system and "delivers full-spectrum legal services that enable naval and joint operations."
The article in question also claims that Prabhakar, who assists U.S. President Joe Bideon on matters of science, tried to "poison potable water reservoirs with COVID-19 vaccines" and was "arrested" in January and subsequently "sentenced to death." An archived link to a Facebook post sharing the article can be viewed here.
Screenshot of the report circulating online. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, the claim is baseless. Prabhakar is very much alive, and the viral claim originates from Real Raw News, a website known for spreading misinformation.
Here are the facts
The website Real Raw News published the article titled "JAG Hangs Biden's Chief Science Officer for Treason" on February 29. It must be noted that Logically Facts and other fact-checking organizations have debunked various claims originating from Real Raw News on several occasions. In fact, we also debunked Real Raw News's baseless claim about Prabhakar being 'arrested' by the military in January in this fact-check.
The 'About' section of Real Raw News website states that they publish informative and educational information, but their articles also contain "humor, parody, and satire." However, the lack of a clear label on which articles are meant to be educational and which are meant to be satirical often leads to false claims being shared online as true.
There have also been no official reports of any action against Arati Prabhakar. She has not been executed and is very much free and alive; the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy shared an image of her standing with other researchers from the Asian American Scholars Forum as recently as March 4. The post caption stated that Prabhakar discussed the ecosystem and the nation's progress in the research and innovation field.
Asian American Scholar Forum, an organization working on 'the rights of Asian American and immigrant scientists, researchers, and scholars,' also reshared the image the same day. This event took place after the purported 'execution' on February 27, establishing that the Real Raw News article is baseless.
The verdict
The claim that the chief science advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden has been 'executed' for treason originates from Real Raw News, a website known to publish misinformation. The scientist in question is very much alive. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.