US military conducting operation off California coast before inauguration? Fact Check

ByCraig Haley

Rumours claim that the military is conducting a covert operation off the Californian coast a day before the inauguration of Joe Biden.

FALSE

The video on Twitter is below.

The rumours are based on a video taken from someone showing several ships off the coast of California. Many have speculated that it shows a “military task force” or some type of military operation.

The video has been seized upon by conspiracy theorists pushing the absurd claim that the military is conducting clandestine operations across the United States during and before Joe Biden’s inauguration with the aim of preventing Biden from taking the presidency. A fuller review of those claims is here.

However the video actually just shows marine traffic compromised of largely cargo and tanker ships, a common sight off the California coast. Amid the pandemic, marine traffic has become significantly worse as ships wait to enter the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

An usually high number of container ships are dotting the Long Beach coastline—sometimes waiting up to five days to dock—due to a perfect storm of record cargo numbers, the coming Chinese New Year and limited capacity at warehouses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Friday.

While the video is shaky, stills reveal that the ships are most certainly not military.

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