"Hit Squads" Won't Oppose Trump's Reelection
The Claim
There are “hit squads being trained all over this country” to oppose U.S. President Trump's reelection.
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Emerging story
The claim was first shared in a September 13, 2020 Facebook Live video by Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign official. While Caputo has since taken down the video, you can view snippets of it here.
The New York Times first published about the video, calling its claims “bizarre conspiracies.”
While not many people agreed with Caputo’s claims, the topic trended on social media. Caputo’s statements soon went viral.
Misbar’s Analysis
According to the New York Times, after saying that "there are hit squads being trained all over this country,” Caputo followed by saying, "And when Donald Trump refuses to stand down at the inauguration, the shooting will begin. The drills that you’ve seen are nothing."
Caputo was made assistant Health and Human Services secretary by Trump in mid-April 2020. His appointment was controversial, including accusations of interfering with the CDC’s weekly COVID-19 reports. Since making the statements in the video, Caputo has taken medical leave from the Department of Human and Health Services.
Misbar’s team searched through the social media pages of several leftist groups and found no posts advocating for violence if Trump is reelected. Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden did say that the military will force Trump to step down if he loses the upcoming election, but that is vastly different than “hit squads” attacking the public if Trump wins. Oren Segal of the Anti-Defamation League said: “I have not seen any evidence of hit squads being trained to violently oppose a second Trump term. What I have seen is the politicization of extremist threats.”
Since Caputo removed the video and then took medical leave from his position, and because there is no evidence that there are hit squads planning to oppose Trump’s reelection, we rate this claim false.
