A post shared on Facebook claims philanthropist Melinda Gates was arrested by U.S. Marines.

Verdict: False

There is no credible evidence of Gates being arrested. The claim stems from a website that publishes satire.

Fact Check:

A Jan. 19 Facebook post claims Melinda Gates, the ex-wife of Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, had been served a “military arrest warrant” at her “earth-sheltered mansion” in Medina, Washington on Jan. 17. It further claims that while she had been granted immunity for her testimony against her former husband in his military tribunal in September 2021, this immunity was revoked when it became clear that she was “less than forthcoming” in her involvement in “Bill’s child trafficking and his promotion of deadly vaccines.”

There is no evidence any of this is true. There is no mention of either Bill or Melinda Gates being arrested in press releases from the Department of Justice or the Department of Defense. There is likewise no announcement about such a development on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website. Both Bill and Melinda Gates published tweets on their verified Twitter accounts after Melinda Gates’ purported arrest.

“This claim is false,” said a Gates Foundation spokesperson in an email to Check Your Fact.  (RELATED: Did Bill Gates Patent A ‘Cv19-N95’ Face Mask Design Years Before The Covid-19 Pandemic)

The Facebook post appears to have lifted the claim directly from a Jan. 18 story published by Real Raw News titled, “Military Arrests Melinda French Gates.” A note on the website’s “about us” page reads, “This website contains humor, parody, and satire.”

The article about Melinda Gates’ purported arrest appears to be a continuation of a story Real Raw News published in September 2021 that alleged Bill Gates was convicted of multiple offenses by the military. Check Your Fact debunked the claim at the time.