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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke May 10, 2019

No, a New Hampshire congressman wasn’t arrested for defacing the president’s limo with swastikas

Here’s a hack to quickly identify fake news: If the Facebook post is about "New Hampshire Congressman Arnim Zola," make sure that’s not the name of a comic book villain.

"This is New Hampshire Congressman Arnim Zola, (D.)," reads the text over a photo of a smiling man pointing finger guns at the camera. "He was arrested Thursday when caught by Capitol police defacing the presidential limousine with swastikas."

The post, which was published on May 8, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

"Terrible," one user commented. "Put his butt in jail," someone else said. "That is government property."

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But other commenters quickly noted that Arnim Zola is a creation of Marvel who fights Captain America. According to Zola's biography on the Marvel website, he was "born in 1930s Switzerland where he became the world’s leading biochemist."

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New Hampshire has two congressional representatives, both Democrats: Chris Pappas and Ann Kuster.

We are this Facebook post Pants on Fire.

 
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A New Hampshire congressman was arrested "when caught by Capitol police defacing the presidential limousine with swastikas."
Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Our Sources

Facebook post, May 8, 2019

Marvel, Arnim Zola, visited May 9, 2019

U.S. House of Representatives, members, visited May 9, 2019

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No, a New Hampshire congressman wasn’t arrested for defacing the president’s limo with swastikas

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