Fact Check

President Obama: 'Even Terrorists Have Rights and We Should Respect Them'

A clickbait web site is sucking in users by peddling a fake Obama quote stating that even terrorists have rights, and we should respect them.

Published Aug. 23, 2016

Claim:
President Obama said, "Even terrorists have rights and we should respect them."

A fictitious quote attributed to President Obama went viral in August 2016, thanks to a right-wing "news" web site known for disseminating questionable information via social media using clickbait headlines.

"'Even Terrorists Have Rights and We Should Respect Them' Obama to American People," blared the title of a 21 August 2016 article on Departed.co. Please note that the term "article" is used loosely in this instance, given that there is no actual content on the page except an embedded tweet from the web site's own Twitter account. The tweet repeats the alleged quote and links back to the web site to complete the circle. No source is cited, nor any evidence presented to support the attribution to Obama.

We've searched every available resource and not found a single speech, interview, or published writing in which Barack Obama said anything resembling what is quoted.

David Emery is a West Coast-based writer and editor with 25 years of experience fact-checking rumors, hoaxes, and contemporary legends.