FACT CHECK: Claim About Empty Shelves, New York Trucker Boycott Stems From Satire Article

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

A post shared on Facebook claims there are empty shelves in stores throughout New York City as a result of a recent trucker boycott.

Screenshot captured via Facebook

Verdict: False

The claim is false and originally stems from a recent article published by the satire site, “Patriot Party Press.”

Fact Check:

Truckers are backtracking on their proposed boycott of delivering goods to New York City, according to Newsweek. Truckers previously said they would boycott New York City following a ruling that former President Donald Trump must pay $355 million in penalties in a recent civil fraud case, the outlet reported.

“Things are about to get scary in New York,” the Facebook post’s caption reads. The post includes a link to an article with the following headline, “NYC Trucker Boycott Leaves Empty Shelves: It’s Only Day One.”

The claim is false and originally stems from a recent article published by the satire site, “Patriot Party Press.” According to the site’s “About Us” page, it is “a subsidiary of the ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’ network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery.”

The article published by Patriot Party Press claims there are empty shelves in stores throughout New York City as a result of a recent trucker boycott in support of Trump. The article also claims to quote a New York City spokesperson named Joe Barron, who purportedly remarked “everything is out” and “imagine the economic impact of what’s happening.”

Likewise, the article claims to quote a spokesperson for the truckers named Chicago Ray, who supposedly said, “enough is enough.” Additionally, keyword searches for Barron and Ray did not return any credible results. (RELATED: No, This Photo Of Keith Ellison And Amy Klobuchar At A ‘Defund The Police’ Event Is Not Authentic)

Furthermore, Check Your Fact did not find any credible news reports to support the claim. In fact, the opposite is true. Lead Stories debunked the claim in a Feb. 21 article. The outlet reported that Barron’s name is often used in satirical stories produced by the “America’s Last Line of Defense” network, while Ray is the nickname of a trucker who recently shared a video on X indicating he was joining the “Truckers For Trump” protest.

Finally, the Trucking Association of New York has not publicly commented on the satirical claim.

Check Your Fact has contacted the Trucking Association of New York for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

Trending