U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Was Not Arrested Last Week

Speculation over whether U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was arrested last week made its rounds on social media over the weekend, but USDA confirmed to Farm Journal the story is plastered with disinformation and simply not true. 

Online sites made claims Vilsack was arrested in relation to recent food processing plant fires across the country, with some alleging he was charged with treason. However, an official USDA spokesperson confirmed Monday morning the claims are false. 

"I can confirm he was not," an USDA spokesperson confirmed to Farm Journal Monday morning. "This appears to be disinformation."

The reports tried to tie Vilsack to a string of fires that have occurred at food processing and grain processing facilities in the U.S.  The latest fire occurred over the weekend at a Perdue Farms grain processing facility located in the South Norfolk area of Chesapeake, Va. It's reported a soybean tank at the facility caught fire Saturday evening.

More than a dozen fires have occurred at food related facilities since the beginning of the year, which includes Taylor Farms. The Packer reported Taylor Farms' primary foodservice processing facility in Salinas, Calif., was severely damaged by a fire that spanned April 13-14.

There are no official reports confirming the recent plant fires or explosions are related or somehow connected.