A video proves that the United Nations is “setting up shop in U.S. states.”
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Video isn’t proof that United Nations is ‘setting up’ in U.S.
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The video was first posted in 2017. It shows United Nations peacekeeping vehicles manufactured in the U.S. and stored at a State Department warehouse in Hagerstown, Maryland, before they are shipped overseas.
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A State Department spokesperson told PolitiFact that the vehicles were used exclusively in U.N. peace operations abroad.
A video showing dozens of United Nations vehicles parked at a Maryland warehouse gave way to the baseless claim that the organization is establishing its presence in the U.S.
The caption of an Oct. 18 Facebook video read, in all capital letters: "The United Nations is already coming and setting up shop in U.S. states for when WW3 is officially declared."
In the video, a man introduces himself as Alistair Williamson and says he’s in Hagerstown, Maryland. He then shows footage of what he calls a convoy of U.N. armored vehicles and shipping containers that say "U.N."
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The video misleads about why the vehicles were in Maryland.
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We found a YouTube channel under Williamson’s name and it included a longer version of the video shared to Facebook. The longer version was uploaded in September 2017.
An article linked in the YouTube video’s caption — no longer accessible but archived here — included the location of the Hagerstown warehouse in the video. A portion of the warehouse was previously leased to the U.S. General Services Administration. The U.S. Department of State listed a site under the same address as of 2016.
When asked about the claim, a State Department spokesperson told PolitiFact that U.N. peacekeeping vehicles were manufactured in the U.S. and stored at a State Department warehouse in Hagerstown, Maryland, until they were shipped overseas.
The spokesperson said the vehicles were used exclusively in U.N. peace operations abroad.
The U.N. conducts peacekeeping operations that include protecting civilians and disarming ex-combatants.
U.N. peacekeepers include civilian, military and police personnel from member states. Similar claims have been circulating for years about U.N. vehicle sightings in Virginia and Kentucky, Toronto, and New South Wales, Australia. In all cases, fact-checkers confirmed the vehicles were to be shipped to other continents.
The video doesn’t prove that the United Nations is "setting up shop in U.S. states." We rate that claim False.Our Sources
Facebook post (archived), Oct. 18, 2023
LinkedIn profile of Alastair Williamson, accessed Oct. 24, 2023
YouTube channel of "Alastair Williamson"
YouTube video, United Nations Military Vehicles Hiding In Maryland; Stored or Ready For Action?, Sept. 4, 2017
Wayback Machine, archived version of "U.N. Armored Vehicles are Being Stored under the Same Roof of a Kellogg Cereal Warehouse– Odd?" by Stock Board Asset, Sept. 4, 2017
General Services Administration, U.S. Government Lease for Real Property, accessed Oct. 24, 2023
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Inspection: 1166121.015 - U.S. Department Of State, accessed Oct. 24, 2023
Statement from a State Department spokesperson, Oct. 25, 2023
United Nations Peacekeeping, What is Peacekeeping, accessed Oct. 25, 2023
United Nations Peacekeeping, Where We Operate, accessed Oct. 25, 2023
Lead Stories, Fact Check: The UN is NOT Guarding a Pharmaceutical Company in Toronto, July 19, 2021
Snopes, Were UN Vehicles and Trucks Spotted in Southern States?, June 27, 2016
Agence France-Presse Fact Check, Photos show Australian military vehicles donated to support Indonesia’s UN peacekeeping missions, Oct. 25, 2021
Lead Stories, Fact Check: Video does NOT show recent convoy of armored UN vehicles in Hagerstown, MD, preparing US takeover -- Alastair Williamson report is old, Oct. 24, 2023
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Video isn’t proof that United Nations is ‘setting up’ in U.S.
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