Global InformationMurder of Seth Rich information
| Murder of Seth Rich | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bloomingdale neighborhood (Ward 5, Washington, D.C.) |
| Date | July 10, 2016 4:20 a.m. EST (approximate) |
Attack type | Homicide by shooting |
| Perpetrators | Unknown[1] |
| Inquiries | Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia |
| Coroner | Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Washington D.C.
|
| Outcome | Cold case |
The murder of Seth Rich occurred on July 10, 2016, at 4:20 a.m. in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C.[2] Rich died about an hour and a half after being shot twice in the back. The perpetrators were never apprehended; police suspected he had been the victim of an attempted robbery.[1][3]
The 27-year-old Rich was an employee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and his murder spawned several right-wing conspiracy theories,[1][4] including the false claim, contradicted by the law enforcement branches that investigated the murder, that Rich had been involved with the leaked DNC emails in 2016.[5][6] It was also contradicted by the July 2018 indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence agents for hacking the e-mail accounts and networks of Democratic Party officials[7] and by the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion the leaked DNC emails were part of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[5][6][8] Fact-checking websites like PolitiFact,[6][9] Snopes,[10] and FactCheck.org stated that the theories were false and unfounded.[5] The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post wrote that the promotion of these conspiracy theories was an example of fake news.[11][12][13]
Rich's family denounced the conspiracy theorists and said that those individuals were exploiting their son's death for political gain, and their spokesperson called the conspiracy theorists "disgusting sociopaths".[14][15][16] They requested a retraction and apology from Fox News after the network promoted the conspiracy theory,[17] and sent a cease and desist letter to the investigator Fox News used.[6][16][17] The investigator stated that he had no evidence to back up the claims which Fox News attributed to him.[5][6][18] Fox News issued a retraction, but did not apologize or publicly explain what went wrong.[19] In response, the Rich family sued Fox News in March 2018 for having engaged in "extreme and outrageous conduct" by fabricating the story defaming their son and thereby intentionally inflicting emotional distress on them.[20][21] Fox News reached a seven-figure settlement with the Rich family in October 2020.[22][23]
- ^ a b c Guo, Jeff (May 24, 2017). "The bonkers Seth Rich conspiracy theory, explained". Vox. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
- ^ Morton, Joseph (August 4, 2016). "D.C. police, family of slain DNC staffer Seth Rich urge anyone with information about murder to come forward". Omaha World-Herald. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Isikoff_7/16/2019was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Bromwich, Jonah Engel (May 17, 2017). "How the Murder of a D.N.C. Staffer Fueled Conspiracy Theories". The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Kiely, Eugene (May 22, 2017). "Gingrich Spreads Conspiracy Theory". FactCheck.org. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Carroll, Lauren (May 23, 2017). "The baseless claim that slain DNC staffer Seth Rich gave emails to WikiLeaks". PolitiFact.com. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ Polantz, Katelyn; Collinson, Stephen (July 14, 2018). "12 Russians indicted in Mueller investigation". CNN. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ "Cyber-spying: Bear on bear". The Economist. September 22, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
politifactgillinwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:4was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Rutenberg, Jim (May 24, 2017). "Sean Hannity, a Murder and Why Fake News Endures". The New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
shalbywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Weigel, David (May 20, 2017). "The Seth Rich conspiracy shows how fake news still works". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ Rich, Mary; Rich, Joel (May 23, 2017). "We're Seth Rich's parents. Stop politicizing our son's murder". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- ^ Guttman, Nathan (May 17, 2017). "Seth Rich Parents Refute New Claims On Wikileaks Contact". The Forward. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- ^ a b Stein, Perry (May 20, 2017). "Family of slain DNC staffer Seth Rich sends 'cease and desist' letter to Fox News contributor". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Ceasewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Statement on coverage of Seth Rich murder investigation". Fox News. May 23, 2017. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017.
On May 16, a story was posted on the Fox News website on the investigation into the 2016 murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich. The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed. We will continue to investigate this story and will provide updates as warranted.
- ^ Folkenflik, David (September 15, 2017). "No Apology, No Explanation: Fox News And The Seth Rich Story". Morning Edition. NPR. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ Grynbaum, Michael M. (March 13, 2018). "Family of Seth Rich Sues Fox News Over Retracted Article". The New York Times. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
- ^ Maddaus, Gene (August 2, 2018). "Seth Rich Family's Lawsuit Against Fox News Dismissed". Variety. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
- ^ Isikoff, Michael (November 24, 2020). "Fox paid seven figures to settle lawsuit over bogus Seth Rich conspiracy story". Yahoo! News. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
SmithJan182021was invoked but never defined (see the help page).