Claim: President Obama has pardoned and released all the prisoners being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Example: [Collected via Facebook, September 2013]
Is there any truth to any of this?
"Obama pardoned the remaining criminals in Guantanamo Bay. Will this man stop at nothing to distroy [sic] our country? We were also told by our Guantanamo Bay correspondent that the newly freed prisoners will be integrated into American society with new identities and clean states under the federal witness protection act, Also as compensation for having been imprisoned each will be given free housing, employment and specialized tax breaks. In turn the US officials believe they will help in the fight against our new Syrian threat."
Origins: On 15 September 2013, the National Report published an article ("Guantanamo Bay Empty — Remaining Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Pardoned By President Obama") positing that President Obama had pardoned all the prisoners still being held in custody at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp:
The super prison's vacancy status comes to us from a guard working in Guantanamo Bay. He has asked that we do not reveal his identity for fear of professional backlash. In a phone conversation with the Army Official he had this to say: "I know what’s happening here is wrong ... I couldn't just turn a blind eye ... You ... You don't know these prisoners like I do ... Some of these men that have been released ... I believe they could potentially be dangerous ... The country needs to know ...”
A collective sigh of relief is felt by Afghanistan families worldwide as news comes to light of Obama's pardon of the remaining prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.
By the following day links and excerpts referencing this article were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered the item mistaking it for a genuine news article. However, the article was just a bit of satire from the National Report, a web site that publishes outrageous fictional stories such as "IRS Plans to Target Leprechauns Next," "Boy Scouts Announce Boobs Merit Badge," and "New CDC Study Indicates Pets of Gay Couples Worse at Sports, Better at Fashion Than Pets of Straight Couples."
The National Report's (since removed) disclaimer page notes that:
National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.
Last updated: 16 September 2013