Army Sgt. Gregory Hayes Beat Daughter’s Rapists to Death-Unproven!
Summary of eRumor:
A meme telling the story of how retired U.S. Army Sgt. Gregory Hayes beat two Syrian refugees to death after they raped his 16-year-old daughter has gone viral.
The Truth:
We couldn’t find anything to verify reports that retired U.S. Army Sgt. Gregory Hayes beat two Syrian refugees to death after he learned that they had raped his 16-year-old daughter.
The rumor started with meme that appeared on social media in April 2016. The meme shows a photo of an unassuming middle aged man drinking a beer, and words printed across it state:
This is retired US Army Sgt. Gregory Hayes. When Sgt. Hayes discovered his 16 year odl daughter had been raped by two Syrian refugee brothers he took the law into his own hands … Sgt. Hayes beat both men to death with his bare hands and now faces life in prison because of it. Show this American Hero your support and MAKE THIS POST GO VIRAL. Let the world know that We, The People stand with Sgt. Hayes.
First, we tried to find any news accounts of Syrian refugees (or refugees of any kind) raping a 16-year-old girl in America, and we couldn’t find any reports. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but we weren’t able to verify that it did outside of the meme.
Second, we tried to track down any records of a retired U.S. Army sergeant named Gregory Hayes. Sadly, the only Sgt. Gregory Hayes that we could track down died in 2009 at the age of 48. A photo of Sgt. Hayes included in the obituary does not match the photo of the man in the meme. So, again, we were unable to verify the only other key detail included in the meme.
We’re calling this one “unproven” because we weren’t able to independently any of its key details.