Skip to main content

False claim Obama's 'personal coroner' to perform autopsy on Tafari Campbell | Fact check

Joedy McCreary   Paste BN
play
Show Caption

The claim: Barack Obama’s ‘personal coroner’ to perform the autopsy on his family's chef

A July 27 Instagram video (direct link, archived link) shows a man discussing the death of the private chef of former President Barack Obama’s family.

Among a litany of other false claims, the speaker says, "Who's going to be doing the autopsy? The Obamas' own personal coroner getting flown in from D.C."

It received more than 60,000 likes in six days.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

Our rating: False

Massachusetts State Police say the state medical examiner’s office, and not anyone’s personal coroner, performed the autopsy. Their investigation found no evidence the death was suspicious.

Misinformation spread quickly after chef's drowning death

Tafari Campbell, the Obama family’s chef, drowned near the family’s home on Martha’s Vineyard, according to authorities. He went missing while paddleboarding on July 23, and Massachusetts State Police say his body was found a day later in Edgartown Great Pond.

Misinformation about his death quickly spread on social media, with many users claiming without evidence that the circumstances were questionable.

Fact check: No, Obama did not remove 500,000 pedophiles from a background check database

The "personal coroner" claim is untrue, State Police spokesperson David Procopio said.

He said the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted the autopsy.

The physical component of the post-mortem examination is finished, Procopio said. Authorities now await the results of toxicology tests, which may take several weeks and are a standard part of autopsies, he said.

State police have called their investigation into his death complete and have reiterated that they do not consider Campbell's death suspicious. There is also no evidence that Obama has a personal coroner.

No trauma, injuries on Campbell's body

The 40-second video contained numerous other false claims.

  • Claim: Campbell’s body was found with head trauma | False – No external trauma or injuries were found on Campbell’s body, Procopio said.
  • Claim: Campbell’s body was found in 3 to 4 feet of water | False – The water in that spot was about 8 feet deep, according to state police.
  • Claim: Campbell died on the Obama estate | False – The Obamas’ 6,892-square-foot estate sits on 29 acres that overlook the pond, and the drowning took place near – but not on – the property, the AP reported.
  • Claim: The 911 call “didn’t go in until hours later" | False – The 911 call was made at 7:46 p.m., shortly after Campbell went under the water, Procopio said.
  • Claim: Campbell’s body “washed up on shore” | False – His body was recovered about 100 feet from the shore, state police said.
  • Claim: Campbell was "writing a book about the Obamas" | False – No evidence supports this claim, the AP reported.

Paste BN reached out to the user who posted the video but did not receive a response.

The AP and Lead Stories also debunked the post.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

Facebook Twitter Email