Fact check: ‘Deep state’ theory makes false claims about martial law, arrests, pandemic
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The claim: ‘Deep State’ collapses: martial law is in effect, Biden and Congress arrested, official government statements censored, pandemic created by other countries to overthrow U.S. government 
In the days since the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot and President Joe Biden’s inauguration, social media platforms and online messaging boards have been flooded with conspiracy theories about a nationwide military takeover.
Social media users have shared a lengthy “Deep State collapses” narrative that makes a variety of claims related to the QAnon conspiracy theory, such as martial law being invoked; Biden and members of Congress being arrested; military takeover of the media; and claims about the COVID-19 pandemic being engineered by other countries to overthrow the U.S. government.
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The earliest version of this narrative appears in a Feb. 3 Facebook post from a user who wrote, “don’t bother me who my sources are. You don’t have to believe it. Do your own research.”
Other users shared similar versions of the detailed post that are accompanied with photos of former President Donald Trump.
One post features the claim as a screenshot of a blog post that credits “WE THE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE” and someone named Michael Dunn. The screenshot is dated March 21; a reverse image search of the screenshot and a search of key words included in it resulted in no matches.
The posts provide no credible source for the information, and there is no evidence to support any of the claims made in the post. USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook users behind the posts.
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The ‘deep state’
The QAnon conspiracy theory is based on the belief that there is a “deep state” apparatus run by political elites, business leaders and Hollywood celebrities who are all actively working to undermine former President Donald Trump.
They theory started in late 2017, when an anonymous poster who goes by “Q” claimed to have inside information about the government. In the years following, the QAnon community has made failed predictions about politicians, the media, the presidential election and COVID-19.
The conspiracy theory also predicts “The Storm,” a mass arrest of Democratic politicians and celebrities who are believed to be elite cult members.
QAnon followers tend to cast the most suspicion on “the biggest, most established celebrities” and those who are well-loved by entertainment media consumers with a long, distinguished career, Travis View, host of the QAnon Anonymous podcast, previously told USA TODAY.
The reason why devotees of this conspiracy theory fixate on specific celebrities or politicians is because “they are thoroughly convinced that the only way you can sort of achieve that high degree of success is by doing something morally depraved,” View said.
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Martial law is not in effect
The post falsely claims martial law has been in effect since Jan. 20 — the day Biden was publicly sworn in as the 46th president — and that the official announcement of martial law was made Jan. 29.
Claims surrounding martial law followed the certification of the 2020 election results and the announcement of Trump’s second impeachment trial. Trump’s most loyal supporters believed Trump’s declaration of martial law would be his final effort to take down the “deep state” and stay in power.
Martial law refers to a power that, in the case of an emergency, allows the military to take the place of civilian government and exercise jurisdiction over civilians. However, “martial law” has no established definition, as people have used the term to describe a variety of roles and actions over history, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Since World War II, martial law has been invoked less than 10 times; it has been invoked 68 times in U.S. history, the Brennan Center notes. As of Feb. 6, there has been no such declaration of martial law nationally or in any state and a defense official confirmed to Reuters that martial law has not been declared.
As outlined in the U.S. Constitution, the president is the commander in chief over the military. USA TODAY has previously debunked false claims that Biden does not control the military or that his inauguration was faked.
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Biden and members of Congress were not arrested
To support the “deep state” collapse conspiracy theory, the post makes the claim that Biden and 355 congressmen and 109 senators were arrested on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25. There is no evidence to support this claim.
This allegation likely stems from a Jan. 25 article from Newsview that cites no source for its information and is headlined “BREAKING: US Military at the White House Arresting Congress.”
Spokespersons for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., confirmed to PolitiFact that the arrest claims are false.
Since Jan. 25, the day the post claims Biden was arrested, the president has publicly delivered remarks, departed the White House and visited Walter Reed Military Medical Center, according to his public schedule.
Images taken in the days since Biden’s inauguration further prove that Biden has been at the White House carrying out presidential duties and is not under arrest.
Similar claims about a warrant for Biden’s arrest and that Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff were arrested by the FBI have been previously debunked by USA TODAY.
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Military, government not in control of the media
The theory makes several false claims about media censorship, including the censoring of legitimate government statements.
As Vox notes, the global media and entertainment landscape is constantly changing. Leading media companies include AT&T and Warner Media Group, Comcast, Disney and 21st Century Fox. The military has no control of official media in the U.S., as claimed.
Media are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Court rulings have guided media within those press freedoms.
The Federal Communications Commission issues broadcast licenses to radio and television stations that operate in the “public interest, convenience and necessity.” The First Amendment prohibits the FCC from censoring broadcast material or interfering with freedom of expression in broadcasting.
The U.S. military did not take control of all radios, televisions and newspapers “by force” on Feb. 5, as claimed in the post. Legitimate government statements are not censored by media organizations; most news releases and statements are all publicly available on the internet.
COVID-19 was not engineered by other countries to overthrow the U.S.
The post falsely claims that the government will publish evidence on Feb. 12 about the “conspiracy committed by the Deep State in France, China and other countries to create a false global epidemic to overthrow the US government.”
Claims that the coronavirus is a hoax or that it was intentionally engineered by the U.S. government have been widely debunked.
Claims that the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. is the result of a conspiracy between the Democratic Party and the Chinese government have been proved false and are not supported with any factual evidence.
Experts and scientists agree that COVID-19 started in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and the first case of the coronavirus in the U.S. was confirmed on Jan. 20, 2020, in Washington state, USA TODAY reported. Virologists and epidemiologists have confirmed that viruses such as COVID-19 can spread at a rapid rate without any outside assistance.
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Our rating: False
Claims of martial law being invoked, a mass arrest of members of Congress and the president, COVID-19 being engineered by other countries and a military takeover the media are all FALSE, based on our research. There is no evidence to support these claims and the claims are all linked to the debunked QAnon conspiracy theory.
Our fact-check sources:
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: ‘Deep state’ theory makes false claims about martial law, arrests, pandemic