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Maryland father accidentally deported to El Salvador, Trump's tariffs & Heather Cox Richardson

Plus: At least 4 school shooters sentenced to death since 1940, but not one has yet been executed

Author

Izz LaMagdeleine
April 05, 2025

SATURDAY EDITION

Snopes Debunker

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Vance was wrong: Maryland father accidentally deported to El Salvador isn't 'convicted MS-13 gang member'

On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance claimed on X that a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was a "convicted MS-13 gang member." (MS-13 is an international criminal gang designated a terrorist organization by the United States.)

Vance's claim is false. In fact, court filings from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement specifically say officials removed Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen, due to "administrative error" and his "purported membership in MS-13." Although the same court documents say ICE officials arrested Abrego Garcia in connection to MS-13, the use of the word "purported" acknowledges he has never been convicted of any MS-13 gang activity. According to the Associated Press, a federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. Reporter Rae Deng has the details.

A white man wearing a black suit holds a chart listing countries, amounts of tariffs they charge the U.S. and what the country is now charging them.

Posts online correctly cracked the formula for Trump's tariffs

Despite a White House spokesman claiming otherwise, the published formula matched what social media users calculated.

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Snopes has been busy fact-checking political claims, including unpacking a claim about a Maryland father accidentally deported to El Salvador, which we featured at the top of this newsletter. We need your help to keep doing this work. By building our membership, we will be able to continue cutting straight to the facts on any subject our readers are interested in. We appreciate any support you can give.

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What to know about rumors Musk is leaving his DOGE role

In an X post, Musk called rumors he was being sidelined by the administration "fake news."

A white woman looks towards a camera. A chyron towards the bottom says, "TRUMP: "LIBERATION DAY" WILL CREATE "GOLDEN AGE,""

Fox News didn't show live stocks ticker after Trump's tariffs announcement — markets were closed

Also, the right-leaning cable news channel has never had a continuous live stocks ticker.

A white woman is pictured speaking next to a white logo for Facebook. Faint posts of th woman (Heather Cox Richardson) can be seen in the background.

Historian Heather Cox Richardson said Facebook removed her posts. Here's what we know

Posts on Richardson's page were visible again days after she and many of her followers first said they disappeared.

Staff Pick

At least 4 school shooters sentenced to death since 1940, but not one has yet been executed

The claim that "zero" school shooters have ever been sentenced to death is false.