Somewhere in this article and all the comments, it seems that everyone is comfortable forgetting that a five-year-old girl was molested.
To focus on the smoke in the mirrors and the exaggerations and the accusations of islamophobia is all for naught, when you lose focus on the actual crime, the victim, making sure she is safe, and that dangerous behavior is corrected and detoured.
5
No, no one is forgetting that. But the boys responsible have been dealt with. The law has done all it can do for her so far.
5
Religious hysteria in the making, 'a la Trump', scapegoating our own inadequacies by finding imaginary culprits to blame. That ISIS is a highly dangerous and violent religious, fanatic, group, interpreting Islam in a most radical fashion, is well known, and our need to fight against. Who knew we humans in a democratic society can still behave so viciously, against another religious group, with the assistance of extreme- right conspiracy theorists masked as journalists 'a la Breitbart', peddling Fake News? Folks, we must learn to think for ourselves, all the while being educated in the facts, and the truth, by finding diverse sources of information...other than Breitbart or Fox Noise, where a "stranahan' may peddle in undocumented 'hearsay' and call it 'dogma'. Lest we forget, ignorance breeds bias, case in point.
4
Pace Richard Hofstater, we have always had the paranoid style in American politics. His book from the 1960's is definitely worth a read. The problem today, unlike with, let's say, Joe McCarthy and his tactics, is covert Russian interference to stir people up further, and the rapidity of internet memes being spread. And that as ever such provocation serves certain persons eager for more power or money.
We as a people, and probably most cultures, are susceptible to such manipulation. It spreads rapidly and is difficult to counter. Definitely thanks to the Times for publishing this piece. The more light shone on this type of proceeding by fearless reporters, the better for all of us.
4
“'It’s just easy to brand these people as a bunch of Islamophobic, racist yokels,' he told me"
That's true, it really is.
6
This work by CAITLIN DICKERSON, it's a real Pulitzer article, I had heard this story several times in the great podcast The Daily by Michael Barbaro, what is Amazing.. given credit s to Mr Barbaro is fear, thanks both for so much great info... Adios.
4
This article is about fake news, but it makes a few assertions that may not make it pass a fact-checker. Particularly, the claims of Russian involvement. Where are the sources for that?
5
A repeat of this scenario is happening in another Idaho town, Sandpoint. The same false rumors were circulated that Sandpoint would be receiving Syrian refugees. Pamphlets were distributed in the dead of night containing false and inflammatory information about the mayor. We don't know who is behind this but it has all the trappings of the Twin Falls story.
7
We could list the % of rapes of women and children by white Christian men in the USA but we won't. In Idaho only 4% of 8,452 reported sex crimes between 2009-2015 resulted in a conviction. 3,269 of those reports were of rape. 130 resulted in convictions. In all reported cases, most involved victims and perpetrators known to each other. Convictions for violent crimes of a non-sexual nature were much higher in Idaho. Maybe sexual crimes by white men in Idaho against their women don't get much attention, unless the accused are foreign.
Whether or not the children were engaged in a sexual act, they were unclothed and the video is considered pornography. The video will remain sealed. The people of Twin Falls will follow Russian Bots and worry about all the wrong evils. Breitbart wins. Trump wins. Ignorance rules.
13
You think they are going to arrest rhe immigrants, who hold all the jobs and whose yogurt factories contribute all the campaign contributions? Fat chance.
1
Regarding Cologne on New Years, This American Life was most illuminating: https://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/621/transcript
As with Twin Falls, there isn't a simple narrative, so is easy to exploit fear and thus gain power.
Over the years I've both worked with and for immigrants, and have always found them the truest believers in the American dream. They, of necessity, bring optimism.
5
9/11 was almost twenty years ago and people are still waiting for the next plane to come down. South Park can be so insightful sometimes and looking back to the episode of terrorists declaring war on our imagination is a perfect image for our reactions. Americans can be so small and afraid that I wonder why they leave the house at all.
7
"This April, the boys accused in the Fawnbrook case admitted guilt — the juvenile court equivalent to pleading guilty — and were sentenced in June. The judge prohibited city officials from commenting on the outcome of the trial, but juvenile-justice experts told me that the boys would most likely be placed on probation and required to attend mandatory therapy to correct their behavior."
They admitted guilt, end of story.
11
Yes, that is the end of the story concerning the assault. It's not the final word on the rumors and gossip recklessly tossed around by people like Mr. Stranahan and those like him.
9
"This will always remain one of the best jokes of democracy—that it gave its deadly enemies the means with which to destroy itself."
-- Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1845
Ignorant, uninformed people are the enemy of democracy. Unable, or unwilling, to think critically, they offer themselves to those with nefarious motives as instruments to destroy the very system that enables them the freedom to be as stupid as possible. Ignorance isn't limited to the sticks or to hicks, but the farther away people are from reliable sources of information, the likelier they are to believe propaganda, and worse, to spread it. It takes a bit of effort to learn to think. Most are too lazy to bother, preferring to let someone else do it for them.
49
Chilling. But correct you caption. You meant 1945.
This isn't a situation of "fake news." It's a situation of irresponsible people not divulging enough information to stop irresponsible statements. All the mayor had to do was hold a press conference enlisting the aid of an attorney to explain WHY certain details could not be divulged (the WHY in each state varies, so that needed to be explained in full) and then GIVE certain details that ARE allowed under law, which would have cleared the matter up. Make a bottom-line statement and stick to it. Stop trying to deal with the little fires as they come up, deal with the inferno, and use the material that put down the inferno on all the little fires. Instead, we have the clueless leading the clueless...and media that want to perpetuate the fake narrative. And THAT is what the problem in this country is: Weak leadership in all areas, including city, county, state, federal...and media in the private sector.
15
Does this mean that you will be running for an office in your community?
2
Unfortunately, even a firm statement like you suggest would not have put out the inferno. What we are seeing here is a case of people who want to believe something happened other than what the facts say, and will disregard any evidence that contradicts what they want to believe.
7
Education and being news savvy are keys to discarding Fake News...Yet this is complicated by news operations with agendas that regularly slant or even fabricate news to placate their popular base. These bases, in turn, are filled with people who believe what they want to believe and buy into news stories that feed their chosen narrative, true or not...this is the scary part...truth is longer the ultimate goal of many people...their narratives are.
12
The people in this town voted overwhelmingly for Trump. He supports fake news and even brought into his administration one of large purveyors of fake news. So this town gets what they deserve.
20
I agree. They elect the government they deserve.
4
Why place a photo if the mayor's wife in your article. She has nothing to do with it at all. Just the wife of the mayor.
It's a horror story by itself but you right up about it a year later and what was your goal that you tried to reach?
What Lee shanahan for kind of man is, what the fake news can be of influence to this country. If the lather is true you should have rewrote your article and get to the point to where these groups are based and how they contacted scanner man and why scanner man is the way he is. You can think of all of this. Just do it the next time. Thank you.
This article, in my opinion, has not shown that original crime did not occur. The children were charged. They plead guilty and the fact that showing the video would constitute child pornography at least hints at what is on the tape and what the children plead guilty. The article also has not disputed that the children were refugees from islamic nations, and most likely muslims.
The author goes on to somehow paint the attacks in Cologne as being the result of propaganda rather than the reality of hundreds of women attacked by middle eastern and african men which has now been well documented as having occurred. The author also seems paint all negative reactions to Muslim refugees as being unsupported by facts, but rather just paranoia being generated by right wing news outlets. How can this author dismiss the dramatic increases in crime rates in the countries who have taken in these Muslim refugees. How can she ignore the onslaught of rapes and sexual assaults being reported in these countries where the victims have identified their attackers as being middle eastern or african men. These problems are spreading through Europe, and if large numbers of these refugees are brought here we will likely see the same. The author would better serve her readers by quoting the tenants of Islam referring to Muslim behavior toward non-muslims. Then her readers would actually be more educated on the threats these Muslim refugees represent.
7
To say nothing of the threat that fundamentalist and under-educated "christians" pose. Most of the terrorist attacks--against individuals, mosques, churches, temples, recreation centers, health clinics--in the U.S. are perpetrated by white men who identify as "christian." "Christian" has become synonomous with hate; the "president" has been easily able to unify "evangelicals," dominionists and other people who think they're Christian under a banner of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." He hates the same people they do--gays, women who want equality, liberals, Mexicans, Muslims, "uppity" Blacks--so the fact that he's an unrepentent degenerate who's maintained his inheritance by conning and cheating people out of money and not paying taxes, that his third wife has nude photos floating around the internet, is okay; he hates the right people.
It should disturb true Christian leaders that their followers are soooo easily duped and led astray. What does that say about the object of their faith? What does it say about their faith when these "christian" leaders are in league with the demagogues and liars?
5
Your facts are of the alternative kind, Gustav. Nearly every attack is either from a muslim perspective or from the deep deep left. Just ask Mr Scalice about that issue. Just ask the families of those attacked in Florida, or those from that couple in California. Notice a trend?
1
No Laura. Did you read it? It said that a ten year old boy took a video of a seven year old boy attempting some sort of sex act on a five year old girl. The boys plead guilty and received some sort of sentence that is appropriate for very young children. The article asserted that directly. No attempt was made to hide it. It is also true that some african and middle eastern men were groping not hundreds of women as you assert, but over a thousand. The article didn't hide that either. It is also true that those cultures have a beastly attitude toward women, but they do not condone rape. There are no facts pointing to some masive danger, none. There is no such onslaught of rapes. None. You can point to no facts other than isolated incidents. In fact as with illegal aliens, they are statistically less likely, not more likely to commit a crime of any kind.
10
The disturbing aspect of this story is that the brash, the bullying, the outspoken unconstrained by facts are speaking over and intimidating ordinary, rational people who want to judge events on established facts.
We all want freedom of speech but our freedoms come with responsibilities . We are seeing the emergence of a social psychopathy similar to that among climate change deniers: they want the freedom to pollute without taking responsibility for the long term consequences.
Here people are using their freedom speech to pollute the social and political environment while taking no responsibility for the consequences.
Freedom of speech is not costless and those who abuse it using unestablished facts need to face the cost of opprobrium for the damaged they inflict on communities like Twin Falls.
10
You will notice, that like the accusations against our President, the truth is closer to the initial reaction than what is portrayed by you and others.
All three boys plead to felonies and should have been punished accordingly.
1
How do you know they haven't been punished?
This is a local news report from June of 2016 with an eyewitness account from the woman who stopped the attack on the five-year-old victim.
It tells a dramatically different story of the assault than Ms. Dickerson does in this story. The story about fake news is fake news.
http://www.kivitv.com/news/witness-five-year-old-girl-was-covered-in-uri...
3
Not exactly. Three little kids were basically playing doctor and 89-year-old prude, "Grandma Jo," caught them after one boy was seen taking a cellphone video. The article you reference is ridiculously inflammatory, calling the discovery "grisly." Grisly? Murder is grisly. Kids pulling down their pants isn't grisly (unless someone has yet to learn how to wipe his or her bottom). How many of us played doctor as kids, even peed in front of each other, and were caught in the act? Grow up. This was a non-event. Had the three kids all been white, you'd never have heard a thing about it. Xenophobic bigots in Idaho turned this into a spectacle worthy of The National Enquirer. Stupid beyond belief. America has turned into a cartoon of itself.
3
It is the same story, with a bit more detail. The article said it was an attempted sex act. She didn't know, because nobody would tell her. It looks like it was more like assault with urine. A juvenile crime committed by kids 10 and 7. I agree with the nice lady who broke it up. Those boys needed a good sound spanking. She should also be free to talk about it. But it still provides nothing useful to the refugee discussion.
The article's beef is that the thing was distorted into a game rape in order to whip up a bunch of hysteria about refugees. It's not that no crime took place here.
1
She was stripped NAKED, David, and they exposed themselves and attempted penetration. They knew enough of what they were doing to make a video of it. THAT, sir, is SEXUAL ASSAULT. I don't care what age, they knew exactly what they were doing and that it was WRONG.
2
One disturbing aspect here, which seems to go unmentioned, is that the "perpetrator" of the sex crime was just 7 years old, barely older than the victim. I know we sometimes prosecute minors as adults, but I thought that meant 16-year-olds who commit murder, not a child barely out of kindergarten.
To be honest, when I was that age, practically all the kids were "playing doctor." Is that really a crime? We'd have had to throw the entire elementary school in prison. It seems a large part of our society has descended into unthinking hysteria, if not collective insanity.
15
I was first aware of this story when it was shared on Facebook by a former colleague. It didn't sound right, so I fact checked it and found out in less than five minutes that it was fabricated. I politely and in carefully chosen words responded to her, saying that it wasn't true. Her response was that it was from Breitbart and she trusted them. I responded with quotes from local law enforcement and links, but she would not be swayed.
I unfriended her shortly after.
The gullibility of the American people apparently knows no bounds. And the insidious effects of cognitive dissonance, when person dismisses information that contradicts what he or she already believes or thinks he or she knows, are spelling our doom.
142
Not so much gullible as stupid. Gullible implies a naïveté, where these people relish in untruths. They savor it. It’s repugnant.
12
The boys plead guilty.
3
It's not clear that the news was actually fake.
Police and prosecutors won't tell us what happened (likely for very good reason, bit nevertheleas).
The boys involved pled guilty, the authorities refused to share the video on the grounds that it would comprise child pornography...so something clearly DID happen.
Whatbit is, nobody can credibly say--- which means nobody can credibly say the news was "false", either.
All we have is a bunch of people in authority saying, in effect, "the news is false but I can't tell you the truth." Well, that's argument by assertion--and why should we believe what one party asserts over another party's counter assertion, unless someone is willing to offer evidence?
10
The fact that only one side uses threats in order to make their point should tell you everything you need to know about which side actually has more factual based evidence. The moral high ground is pretty clear on this one.
4
One can use his common sense and I this case dismiss wild assertions that Muslims were rejoicing and partying about such a crime. But if for one second; you entertained the notion that those making accusations were anything but hatemongers; that puts you right there with "them". The hate cabale that stretches from your town by way of Breibart and Drudge and Fox News all the way to the Divider in Chief spewing garbage almost every morning. you're in good company.
3
What if the story had not been fake? How many from "our own back yard" have committed similar transgressions? Teachers, priests, neighbors, their kids, fathers, and uncles...? Are we going to exclude our OWN entire neighborhood in order to punish a few? Or are we going to examine the facts before we "lynch" and then use the law to punish individuals who truly trespass? And keep our heads cool...?
Xenophobic hysteria helps nobody.
4
It's sad that elected officials are so worried about offending racists and losing the racist vote. Those elected officials are just as guilty as the racists for the treatment of these refugees.
15
"A lie can travel halfway around the world [literally] while the truth is putting on its shoes" [Mark Twain] - especially when it's spiced with fear and hatred and otherblaming ...
http://freakonomics.com/2011/04/07/quotes-uncovered-how-lies-travel/
12
In this age of our individual internet echo chambers, fomenting outrage is both lucrative and apparently rather easy. The leftover part of our lizard brains responsible for "us vs. them" tribalism for survival's sake is now increasingly obsolete and dangerous.
I worry for both the victims of fake news as well as the nation as a whole.
14
Easy queasy! Stomach-turning ...
4
Lee Atwater was an expert on this and he taught Karl Rove well. Right before he died, he apologized, though. Too bad the GOP fear mongering did not stop right there!
7
We should remember Orson Welles broadcast of War of the Worlds. People truly believe that an invasion from Mars was taking place.
What is true is that the Martians actually did invade and the result is the corps of Martians promoting fake news around the globe. Mr. Putin, a son of a Martian invader, and a known invasion denier, at first denied the existence of the corps but under pressure finally provided his birth certificate, or rather certificate of origin, and admitted that the main corps of Martian fake news creators was currently operating in Russia and some were working in the United States as well. Mr. Putin also admitted to recruiting members of the Trump election campaign team to help defeat Hillary. Hillary is not a Martian but is widely believed to be from outer space.
14
Orson We;;es, good comparison. 1984, maybe, what about Hearst and "yellow journalism"? That got us into a war. Or possibly weapons of mass destruction . News comes on us fast, to fast. Fast in and fast out. I don't watch Colbert anymore, just tired of hearing his interpretation of the news about Trumo. I get enough news during the day. Colbert will end up as the Vaughn Meader of the 21st century! gone and forgotten as his he loses his foil. Small towns have created to best leaders the country has ever had. Obviously I read the Times, but I take the opinion and new articles with "A grain of salt" and try to look between the lines at the interesting pieces. It is so obvious what the reporters real feelings are. Sad because it only feeds the "fake news " moniker.
2
Colbert -gone and forgotten as his he loses his foil" ?
Hardly. I guess you never saw Colbert at the Press club dinner, long before Trump ever reared his ugly "Presidential" Head.
Funny & Courageous while only a few feet away from little Bush, & staring straight in his face as he skewered him expertly. And little Baby Bush sat there -stone faced and silent, as he took it all. The monologue probably soared right over his head.
Sorry - Colbert is here as long as he chooses to be.
4
Odd to see hateful comments about "ignorant small-town hicks." Stranahan and Breitbart live and work in America's major metropolises. Ms. Dickerson's reporting makes clear that many of these threats are coming from a vast network of blogs, few of which were local to Twin Falls.
I suppose I fail to see how name-calling and slander will improve relations between different populations. Ignorance is ignorance, full stop.
8
Breitbart and the like may operate out of big cities, which is irrelevant to their main function: to prey on people who live in small and homogenous small towns such as Idaho Falls for their own ends.
The case of Idaho Falls seems like a game of "telephone" gone awry. Breitbart and Alex Jones, for example, seized on this moment to spread fear and hate amongst people already susceptible to small-minded views for their own ends. These "rubes" are are no more than lucrative prey.
13
He was right in saying that people like those in Twin Falls just do NOT do any fact-checking. If anyone could get them to do that, the truth would be evident.
8
1984. Office of Truth. Animal Farm. Beware it is happening.
5
I am curious as to what the wager may have been between Reporter Brown, Scanner Man, and the Mayor in their three-way "Most Awkward Uncomfortable-Looking Pose" contest?
3
Well, I, for one, will not be moving my business to Twin Falls.
11
I feel like I am living in a George Orwell Novel. How is it that a Russian Propaganda platform like Spudnik is allowed to exist and operate in the USA without being challenged and condemned by the free press and the American People on a daily basis. Are we so jaded by the fact that the Kremlin has it's fingers in our electoral system that we can ignore the barrage of lies by it's lackeys here in our our own country. I only pray that Mr Mueller"s investigation will expose the extent of the damage done to our Democracy and the people wake from this nightmare.
19
This is the kind of measured, thoughtful reporting that the tradition of professional American journalism was founded on. It is sad to think that it takes this lengthy exposition to unspool the damage done in an instant by fools with an agenda. This equation is out of balance and unfortunately predicts a future where truth crawls as lies sprint.
27
This is one of the most depressing stories I've read in a long time. It gets at the truly awful hole this nation has stumbled into. And given the gullibility and insularity of so many, I don't really see a way to climb out.
27
This story echoes the NYT story of Sept. 13, 2017, "RT, Sputnik and Russia’s New Theory of War," about Russia fanning a fake news story in Germany. My advice is that if there's a story about sex crimes and minors and Syrians, take a deep breath and be skeptical. It's dismaying how easy it is to get people riled up, and how really sick and hateful people are (like the one who left the message for the mayor's wife).
I'd like to know why the people in this town are so fearful and gullible. It's a mixed community, are there particular problems? The story doesn't say.
13
One could ask how so many people who believe the Russian 'hacking' narrative, despite multiple experts providing actual proof, debunking the Guccifer 2.0 persona, the fact that the FBI was never allowed to inspect the DNC servers, that the DNC's paid for cyber-firm Crowdstrike, was forced to withdraw a similar report in Ukraine, based on the same X-Agent signatures, after the Ukrainian military said there was no Russian hacking of their artillery systems. Then that no connection between Russia and Wikileaks is known, that Assange states repeatedly, confirmed by former British Ambassador Craig Murray, that the DNC leaker passed the information by hand in a Washington Park, that New Zealand cyber-activist Kim DotCom has stated he is willing to testify that he personally helped the leaker contact Wikileaks.
Surely Muller, would want to question these individuals, to determine if they can back up their clams, but no-one, not the forensic investigators, not Assange, not Murray, not DotCom have received any contact from the Muller team, why is that? Why is the investigation ignoring Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who personally met Assange, and is trying to arrange a way for him to testify, through some kind of immunity agreement? Surely the issue is important enough for no stone to be unturned, but apparently only for evidence pointing the one direction only.
4
Why are you stating things of which you do not know and could not possibly know. For example, you do NOT know if the Mueller team has contacted anybody. You do NOT know whether there is a Russian connection to WikiLeaks either. Why are you stating these things as facts when anyone can see you are lying?
8
And you Pat, do not know to the contrary. All evidence points to Russia involvement and meddling in our elections via FB, Twitter etc...
Are you not doubting what FB and Twitter officials have discovered and shared with Congress?
You can't possibly live your entire life with your head buried in the sand.
Totally apart from this story's excellent reporting and content, I was impressed by the quality writing in the first paragraph. It concisely conveys jounalism's five Ws--who, what, where, when, why--while also painting a memorable image of the reporter, conveying the sleepy nature of Twin Falls and teeing up the upcoming story. Bravo, Caitlin!
11
. I feel like the Russian disinformation won if so many Times readers can, despite the articles clear contradicting details, leave this thinking it was all twin falls......and not getting the fact most of it was outside far right news and Russian troll sites. Read the whole article. The mayor, police, news all for truth and compassion. The town reacted by upping donations to refugees resettlement.
7
This. This is what is wrong with America: woefully misinformed people spreading lies being fed to them by "conservatives." This is way off into tinfoil hat territory, but I suspect much of "conservative" media is being directed by Russia, in a decades long mission to destabilize the United States. Funny how so many of these "reporters" have some sort of a connection to Russia. And we thought we won the Cold War.
14
This reminds me of the overblown urban legend that grew up around the McMartin day care center case years ago. What is it about this country that, regardless of what we're afraid of--whether it's women going to work or Muslim refugees--it somehow translates into horror stories and mass hysteria about the sexual abuse of children?
6
Perhaps this point was made already, but the irony in this sad saga is that the anti-Islam bigotry in Twin Falls comes from people whose Mormon ancestors were ridiculed and persecuted. I've made the same point about my "people," Irish-Americans, many of whom also moan about refugees and their strange beliefs, completely forgetting about the "No Irish Need Apply" signs and the anti-Papist bigotry that their great-grandparents and grandparents had to endure.
14
Nice journalism, this is why I subscribe to NYT. Sad to hear about how fake news has affected how we are as people.
9
". Talking with him feels like being inside one of his conspiracy theories. When you ask him a question, he begins to answer and then immediately swerves in a different direction, bouncing like a pinball between topics that barely connect to one another — from the Fawnbrook case to clitorectomies and stoning, then Syrian refugees, then a prominent Wahhabi cleric — and seems to increase in velocity as he ricochets off them. It’s an exhausting exercise, but also a fascinating one." Sounds like the guy has developed a severe case of anger about his deteriorating health and latched on to crazy right-wing conspiracy theories as an outlet rather than getting mental health counseling to deal with his issues. It's what I think made him flip from being a sane Liberal to a complete conservative nutjob. The sad thing is, he and those like him continue to sow discontent and division amongst Americans rather than bring us together, and I'm sure it's profit motivated.
7
There is so much that's insane in this story that I'm left utterly flabbergasted. Seriously, this is just crazy. What is wrong with people? And why do we let the likes of Bannon and his disgusting propaganda outlet get away with doing this kind of damage?
8
How ironic that an area dominated by Mormons (who love to talk about their being persecution in the past) would fall for this lynch mob mentality.
12
I was totally surprised by the standoffishness of the head of a government section, who was Mormon, and to whom I reported on a short-term assignment. He never interacted with his staff on a personal level, never greeted them. Absolutely no personal interest in their lives...just their work.
5
Did you actually read the whole article, most people did not "fall for this lynch mob mentality". I am conservative, I live in rural America , I do not watch Fox News, I read the NYT, Breitbart, Yahoo, Huffpost, DemocracyNow, NYPost,BDN and my local small town newspaper. My point, do not paint all conservatives as uninformed. We too know fake news when we read it .
2
Fake news isn't new, when it was Yellow Journalism it served the needs of the state. Fake news has been used by the media to sell conspiracies about the Moon landing, alien autopsies, Marlow and 9/11 just to name a few. When media outlets spin conspiracy theories for profit they make it that much easier for people to believe fake news. How many news agencies spread the hoax that a firefighter surfed his way down the collapsing WTC?
2
How many? And show proof.
1
Perhaps the saddest of the modern conspiracy theories are those spread about the JFK assassination. Here's some real news: too many Americans are ignorant fools, too lazy to make the effort necessary to learn the truth. And that's how we ended up with Donald Trump, "the" consummate 3-card monte confidence man who now uses the world's most revered symbol of democracy - The Oval Office - to spread hate, bigotry, social, class and economic division. Everyday I wake and pronounce "let this be a sane day."
4
Strahan isn't a journalist, he's a Russian agent. This is propaganda and organizing to destabilize the US. Why is this legal? Or let's try this thought experiment, it's 1984, an American works for Pravda and gets paid by the Kremlin. He prints in major distribution news stories that incite Americans, except they're half truths and bold face lies supported and encourage by his Soviet handlers. I know for a fact in 1984 not only would it have been shocking, you'd have been arrested. It's treason. So why in this article, midway through it's nonchalantly mentioned Stranahan works for RT and the Kremlin? Literally, has everyone in the US lost their minds? What happened to law enforcement and the now 20 layers of intelligence agencies ability to protect us? At this rate please just hand the keys over to Putin, because this is not longer the US I knew.
5
You have any proof of these assertions? It is not 1984, if working for RT was treason, the organisation would be banned. When he investigated the incident, it was prior to his employment at RT. And what exactly does the Kremin want to do? Perhaps they want to advise the US how to better operate a capitalist system with only 15% GDP of debt? Maybe they want to convert lapsed US Christians to the Orthodox Church? You know all about their plans, tell me where the communists are? Not in Russia, thats for sure.
You might want to question how for a sealed case, the reporter quoting from the local reporter, somehow knows the details of the 14y/olds activities. If he only provided a phone and was not present, why did all three plead guilty and make a plea bargain? This whole article relies on one unsubstantiated piece of here-say, plus a whole lot of sophistry and character assassination, unrelated to the facts, or lack thereof, at hand. With an loyal audience trained to disbelieve anything written by the 'right-wingers' (wasn't Russia leftist in 1984?) the truth can be bent at will.
I don't know what happened, the only facts in public are that three minors of middle-eastern appearance, plead guilty, to an assault on a five year old girl. Stranahan claims to have additional sources close to the family of the victim. In time, he will need to back up these claims. Can the NYT back up the claims about details of the crime, for a sealed verdict?
1
Hopefully the author will expend the same diligence on exposing fake news and events like Benghazi attacks initiated by a video.
1
Give it a rest. That was investigated 8 times!
6
Stranagan works for Sputnik now, but is an "anti-globalist"?
How does his head not explode from the forces of cognitive dissonance inside it?
6
I grew up in Twin Falls. The college in Twin has had a refugee center for several decades, as long as I can remember. I went school with kids from Bhutan, Laos, Serbia, Bosnia, and probably a number of other countries that I can't recall 20-30 years later. Additionally, there is a large dairy/ag community in the Magic Valley that is largely reliant on immigrant labor. So, there is also a relatively large hispanic community there as well. Hearing a foreign language while out at the mall or the movies was not that uncommon.
Sharing a bit of history about the refugee center in TF would have been helpful. Clearly word count wasn't an issue, and elaborating a bit on the scrutiny that has been placed on the resettlement process nationwide would have helped. The hysterics created in twin served as a microcosm of where we are as a nation. The alignment of this story with the House passing a resolution to ban refugee's coming from Syria wasn't mentioned. Sen. Cruz offered a bill that would have allowed states to ban refugees. So, it's not just xenophobia in TF, there's plenty of that to go around.
Also, for those still reading. The city council did pass a resolution in support of the refugee center. While those interviewed sounded ignorant and repulsive, it seems the majority of folks in TF still have some pragmatism and that didn't get the acknowledgement that they probably deserved in this article.
7
the author was clear that it was a vocal minority likely being influenced by outside agitators; and, that's the problem today with FB, other social media and the electronic age. Once again, Americans are lazy, do not respect learning, do not read anything that's more than four words long. I thought the article conveyed a positive image of TF, and while it's a beautiful patch of paradise in America its dark side is its devotion to republican politics and all the hallow lies and nonsense that comes with that point of view. This country needs more CEOs like the head of Chobani.
Yet another case of right wingers living in fear. Why are they always scared?
They shouldn't feel scared, they should feel duped. They were lied to by their own to further their own causes, either business or personal.
I just want to know if they know how badly they were used, and the damage they have done. And do they care?
6
The word that comes to mind is "libel" since there are lies flying around in many forms, but how do we capture and punish those who libel others? "Oops" and "Sorry" don't cut it.
Ada County (and some counties up by the BC border) excepted, I avoid ID as I would be a target too in the rest of the state.
1
We need to be very careful and ask ourselves what is being done now day to day
Please take note of how state senate races are falling in the hands of these so-called populists. Beware of how people in key positions such as DEA and Ethics are resigning leaving Trump to fill them.
Please let us beware of what is happening regarding voter suppression
I fear 2018 will be much worse
3
What is it that gets people to turn on their neighbors, fear newcomers and make angry threats or even induce felony acts? On the one hand are the proletariat and frustrated losers, the delusionals, defeated by life and exploited by the new media and politicians. On the other hand there is the real threat of rising radical religious ideology that is a serious concern and is being played out daily on the world stage. This essay exploits the citizens of Twin Falls with their fears and frustrations and marginalizes the failure of our government having spent immense amounts of blood and treasure to face the problem.
2
"What is it that gets people to turn on their neighbours...?" Let's look at the word ignorance, then the next word ignorance, and then again ignorance. Start with the lack of intellectual curiosity to gain knowledge about the rest of the world's geography, philosophies, cultures, literature, and music. Then follow that with the lack of proper K-12 schooling, intellectual stimulus and rational thinking. Next look at the bigotry and racism that is institutionalized in the USA, then evaluate the greed of the out-of-control capitalism that is perpetuated by the likes of the current inhabitant of the Oval Office; an individual who happens to be a serial adulterer, a bigot, a multi-bankrupt and for whom the so-called "Christians" voted. That is where you are going to find the reasons to answer your question.
2
Yesterday I read this article, and then I went downtown to City Hall and left a message for the mayor and city manager. The contents of which were that I am very proud of the Mayor and his wife, and that I am also very pleased with what my town is today.
My town is a beautiful town with many city parks including the Rock Creek Park, two and a half blocks from my home. Downtown is fast becoming a visitors delight, with sidewalk cafes, theatre, dance studios and a small assortment of specialty shops. My wife and I attended the live production of Beauty and the Best last Sunday. From my own experience retail shopping in Twin Falls has more to offer than some large cities.
Most importantly we offer diversity, and I think compassion. We have been involved in such before and particularly since the end of the Vietnam War. A hookah lounge is located on main street one block from my home, and on Addison Ave West, a main thoroughfare is a Mosque, a beautiful presence.
I base this evaluation of my home town on my own experience, a third generation Idaho resident and a Twin Falls High School graduate of 1957. Our class held its sixty class reunion this summer.
Now if you are still not convinced I might say you can go fly a kite or jump off the Snake River Rim to Rim Bridge, four hundred plus feet to the bottom. Some do, Base Jumping. It's legal here.
5
Mr Martin
I've never been to TF but this article clearly conveyed to me that it is a beautiful place whose inhabitants are good solid people. Regrettably our country is being consumed by fake news and while I am not religious, the only word that comes to mind is "evil". Folks need to look long and hard at who the real perpetrators are of all the negative, fake news and why do they promote outright lies and then the question that needs to be asked is: "how can I support a party, or endorse a candidate so lacking in character, dignity and honesty.
3
I couldn't help contrasting this story with another one that's also currently on the NYT website: "A Terrorized British City Turns to an All-American Play for Healing"
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/theater/our-town-manchester-terrorism...®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
Apart from the totally unjustified use of "terrorized" in the headline, it's an admirable and heart-warming report about how the people of Manchester are healing from the Manchester Arena attack, not by turning on minorities or immigrants, but by staging and performing in a performance of "Our Town", which is all about what binds a community together.
The citizens of Twin Falls have much less to complain about but they could take a lesson from their Mancunian counterparts. Please, Twin Falls, stage "Our Town" for yourselves and be inspired by Grover's Corners, instead of letting yourselves get riled up by a fake story whipped up by outsiders (including Russians).
13
This was a very fascinating in-depth piece that really shines a light on how something small can escalate so quickly in our social and political climate. I really appreciate Ms. Dickerson for researching all the facts, exploring all the many moving pieces, interviewing so many people from various sides of this event - then presenting everything in such a well written story. This gives us a lot to ponder. How quick people are to react with anger out of fear, before considering all the facts. How distrustful Americans have become of due process. How many tactics are now being used to manipulate human emotion - both from within and without USA. We are continually under "attack" from all sides with false dogma. The more people feel threatened, hurt and fearful, the more vulnerable they are to be deceived.
I recently watched a production of "The Crucible". As I read this story, it was both fascinating and horrifying to see how many parallels there are between what happened in Twin Falls and what happened in Salem. A very similar pattern of a small town event involving curious young children doing something 'forbidden', leading to adult fear and overreaction, leading to panic, leading to demonizing others, setting off extreme - even violent - human behavior. (And just Imagine if Salem had Breitbart and Russia fanning the flames of intolerance!)
Our nation really needs to see, read and process more excellent journalism like this. Thank you, NYTimes.
18
Here in Wilmington, Delaware, we just celebrated "Peace Week." Over 60 organizations sponsored activities related to reducing violence and to promote greater understanding among our residents of varied faiths, races and cultures. One of the most profound events was held in a Catholic Church and involved a panel of local Muslim leaders answering questions and explaining the pillars of their religion. Everyone in the room was moved by their candor and warm hearts. Ignorance is at the heart of this terrifying story. Perhaps Twin Falls should have a "Peace Week." We have the template.
14
Jean,
I commend you and the citizens of Wilmington!! I wish every town in the US participated in a peace week exercise. I feel such methods are certain to diminish the strength of fake news, russian injected populism and hopefully restore this great nation
2
Remarkable reporting. I feel like we are watching the hysteria of "The Crucible" play out in real time in 2017. The so-called "reality" of online rumor mongering has outstripped the world of verifiable people, facts, and events. After the Enlightenment, reality had a pretty good run, but it really feels like that is obsolete.
19
Hate, fear, anger, violence, Lies, Lies, Lies, guns and other weapons, "blind worship" of the military and WAR must stop "winning" in America and around the world. They are much too easy to spread.
48
"Journalist" like Alex Jones and Stranahan insist on their right to push falsehoods & sensationalism to get readership or listeners, but adhere to no journalistic standards. Then, the town folk who are drunk on this disinformation come screaming with pitchforks at anyone who is not fully on board their crazy train. The desire for a 7 year old to be in jail is appalling. If their own child did something wrong, they would never accept this treatment. This all comes down to dehumanizing the different.
63
Hard to have any sympathy for folks who are correctly described as Islamophobic, racist yokels. Beyond deplorable, despicable. Isn't the behavior of these people the equivalent of yelling 'Fire!' in a crowded movie theater when there is no fire? Can't we prosecute such behavior? How long would a feeding frenzy like the one in Twin Falls last if there was a fine (scaled to the size of the audience) for anyone found guilty of deliberately bearing false witness. How willing would these brave Americans be to harass their neighbors if they couldn't do so anonymously or do so with impunity?
39
To the folks in the comment section who keep bringing up Rotherham: as horrible as it was the fact that it happened doesn't prove or disprove anything about Islamic immigrants. As we're all aware at this point, the Catholic clergy have likely been the largest collective child sexual abusers in the history of the United States. As far as I know there hasn't been discussion of sending Catholics "back to where they came from"........
60
. . . in the history of the World.
The one constant that seems to come up in these areas of fear and naivety is that they are by and large "Christian". A particular type of Christianity where it is drilled into their heads from a young age to just accept that if you believe in God, you will be taken care of. Sadly this diet of never questioning, leads down a slippery slope.
The majority of our education has only reenforced this lack of curiosity, and real exploration into the bigger world.
What I believe is crucial to our survival as a democracy that upholds our constitution, is a population that understand what a prime source is, and at the very least understands exactly what a fact is.
25
I see an overbearing establishment determined to shove diversity down the throats of the American people while ridiculing their religion, customs and traditions.
7
Eric, the "American people" ARE diverse already. You can fear or resent it, or you can embrace it and enjoy the delicious variety of cuisines, music, and ideas. No one is "ridiculing" your religion, customs or traditions. They are simply acknowledging what has been true since this nation's founding:
We were all once strangers in this land, with different religions and customs.
We are Americans because we believe in our Constitution, not because of our religion or customs or traditions.
All our ways are American ways because we are all Americans.
All of us together are the American people.
31
The American people are diverse. They always have been. How did you not know that?
7
Eric if you don't like the reality that we are a diverse nation you are free to leave. Please do. Or just never turn on your TV and never go outside if you don't want to experience the horror of diversity. Talk about a first world problem--exactly how is your white skin and Christianity harmed by the existence of other skin colors and religions in your community??
2
Brilliant reporting. I have to commend you for keeping your composure.
But the only revealing/confirming part of the story is that social media can politicize events and turn them into weapons.
Do you recall this story 1988, pre-social media? Remebering Satan
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/29/books/books-of-the-times-a-family-is-d...
Or 2016 in Brooklyn?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/25/charges-to...
6
A prime example of why sanctions need to be brought down on these idiots creating fake news. The media already does enough damage without adding fake news to the mix.
Fine them, reprimand them, give them some time in court.
25
perhaps you mean "some time in jail?"
2
Republican Christian extremist hatred and hysteria ... just another day in Trump's America.
29
Why is it the impact on the Muslims is left unmentioned? Why do we not have live interviews with real average American Muslims?
24
We do, but not nearly often enough nor disseminated widely enough. Small town papers don't like them.
5
The stupidity of the people in that town is breathtaking. The refugees think they are coming to a safe place when they come here. I feel so sorry for them.
31
If you had read closely you would have discovered that the actual anti refugee group is small though vocal, the mayor, newspaper etc supporters, the police handled everything calmly and correctly recognizing juveniles and treating like their own juveniles and the towns response was to up their donations to the refugee resettlement center........but hey, join the crowd with pitchforks on either side harassing real people.
4
Please see my post under the NYT Picks tab, above. It was only a very small (but loud) percentage of our town that went all-in on these false stories. Twin Falls has a long and successful record of refugee settlement.
4
It became clear, reading how Drudge Report wrote that rediculous, typical right wing click bait, screaming headline. It was of course, what we have been calling fake news. Fake News, is all about money, folks. It's about clickbait and getting people to look, so it can be monetized. So, this is the yellow journalism of our day, and wont go away as long as there's a profit to be made.
24
Those of us from the Deep South know exactly where this nonsense leads. Wake up, Twin Falls.
25
These people remind of the those uncontacted indiginous societies National Geographic used to write about in the 70's... "Scientists Discover Isolated Race of Primative White People Living in Rural Idaho." They're probably upset that the Times cameraman stole their souls....
22
Did you actually read it? Apparently not as it made it clear most of the town supported the refugee resettlement, they are behind Chobani , and the mayor and the police acted with care and compassion. The small group of agitators (which every town has) was stirred up by outside breitbart reporters, Russian fake groups etc......
3
I agree completely with your analysis.
What a spectacular group of cowards. Contrast the craven behavior of the animals you for some reason insist on anointing as "activists", especially this Stranahan creature, with the courage displayed by hundreds of NFL players protesting these people's hero on Sunday.
“We will and are holding you responsible for any and all crimes committed by these quote refugees. No courts. No police. Just us. You will answer to us in the darkness of night.”
This is one of those "fine people" Pumpkinhead referred to in Charlottesville marching in the Nazi torchlight procession. Imagine if the word "refugees" were replaced with the phrase "fascist Trump supporters". Suppose that might pry a tweet from the twit in the White House?
18
Many white Americans, such as the ones you describe in this benighted hick town of Idaho, are willfully ignorant in order to fake their own credulity. They can't really believe this crap about Muslims. Sad that the Breitbart trolls and bots, and their crazy reporters, feed such lies to a sick segment of the population. Hopefully, the ignorant white people will die off and good people, including entreprenuerial business owners and hard-working immigrants, will take over these dying towns.
15
Dear Chobani Yogurt, Clif Bar and Glanbia Nutritionals executives: Please stand with the best of America and move your company operations to other cities. You cannot change the ingrained ill will that has festered in towns like this for generations. Your presence cannot change their minds. Your workers will respect you, and so will decent customers around the country if you leave. The goodwill and resulting growth in business will surely offset your moving expenses.
19
There really need to be severe penalties for deliberately publishing fraudulent stories that harm a person's reputation. Libel/slander laws aren't sufficient. Perhaps we need the equivalent of an internet police.
11
Another commenter (brilliantly) made reference to a Twilight Zone episode in which aliens arrive in a small town, sow a few seeds of doubt, and then watch the town destroy itself. The episode was written to address anti-communist paranoia but it could not be more relevant to the hysteria referenced in Ms Dickerson's extraordinary article. It is called, "Twilight Zone--The Monsters are Due on Maple Street."
You can search for the episode online; just make sure you locate the classic version and not the remake.
17
Excellent journalism. Thank you.
Right wing propagandists in the US, creating and spreading fear and anger for the past 35 years, have been the engine driving the increasingly irrational and intolerant conservative movement that we now face. This article is a crystal clear distillation of the methods employed by the radical right and is a frightening demonstration of the kind of lunacy that has taken over conservative politics in our country.
I fear for our future. You can't argue with crazy. I honestly believe that this kind of propaganda will result in the destruction of our once great country.
19
Great story, and I particularly liked this one line: "Stranahan struck me as passionate about his stories; not about their veracity but about the freedom he and the critics of refugee resettlement should have to speculate as they wanted without being belittled by the fact-mongering mainstream."
How TERRIBLE! To deliberately spread dangerous lies, and then get "belittled by the fact-mongering mainstream."
30
I think this country is truly losing it's collective mind.
14
I suspect we're talking about different things, but I'll agree with your general proposition.
When the students at my alma mater, Oberlin, rail against the serving of General Tso's Chicken as cultural appropriation, and Charles Murray is cast at Middlebury College as a purveyor of hate speech, I shudder at what this country is becoming.
2
Dear Wine Country Dude
I sense there's little that we would agree on, even so I agree that students on college campuses today have gone berserk (although the same was said about my cohorts in the late 60s) and further that they don't really understand due process, free speech and so much more; and, while I believe that Charles Murray should be on campus and I don't believe he preaches hate speech but many reviews of his "Coming Apart" assert by his peers that much of his data is not accurate and that it is manipulated to reflect his libertarian point of view . . . . still, there's a place for Mr. Murray on campus just not the campus that I would encourage my child to attend.
1
Fake news, distorted information, fear... all available at your local church, synagogue or mosque this weekend.
9
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Just don't give them to Twin Falls, Idaho, or to any similarly open-armed community. For they all have betrayed the values that made America a special, and for many an exceptional, nation.
15
And again....read the whole article. It will be clear that most of twin falls, even those with reservations such as the mayors wife, stand with the refugees, with Chobani. This is largely a tale of a few local bigots getting amplified by national right wing news and manipulated by Russia. The town has decades of accepting refugees and was very happy to have Chobani come there. As the story mentioned the local news, the mayor, the police all stayed calm, compassionate, focused on the truth and open to refugees. It's notable that the police chief talked about the case as young juveniles more curious than criminal the same way he might in any case that age......
2
Sorry. This is even bigger than refugee hysteria. It's about the racial attitude . Incarceration rates, probation abuse and did our state of Idaho extend Medicare to those in need? This story is just the tip of the story. These are not ignorant people. They choose to believe lies to further their agenda.
People like Lee Stranaha are not journalists, not by any stretch of the imagination, they are propaganda purveyors. Notice he now works for the Russian state sponsored propaganda site Sputnik. These are always weak minded easily manipulated people who learn the trade of manipulation and control from people like Steve Bannon, and end up preying upon and building their careers on the backs people just like themselves, The weak minded and easily manipulated, a.k.a. Donald Trump's base. But hey when so-called real journalism hides legitimate journalism behind a pay walls, fake journalism/Propaganda thrives and spreads because that's all these people have any longer. Journalism is being destroyed from without and within by those whose only motive is profit and control, and it's much easier to generate profit and control people with propaganda then it is with the truth. Truth is the real victim here, it is being destroyed by the poison of ideology. America better wake up soon or do United States is going to go the way of the dinosaur.
9
I agree with other readers. Dickerson deserves a Pulitzer for this very detailed
account on Fake News and its stranglehold on our now fragile democracy.
With no Fairness Doctrine and bottom line "journalism", there is no fair mass communication, no common decency, no regard for corrobated facts.
Frustrating time for the real journalists. Great gumshoe piece!
12
At the heart of this story are 3 little kids. A 5 year old girl, and two boys age 7 and 10. I am glad that despite all the lies and bigoted furor, the police, prosecutors and judges did not lose sight of that fact and overreact to placate the mob by destroying the boys. Think about this too - a 7 year old and a 10 year old - is that what the people of Twin Falls are so afraid of?
10
Thank you for noticing how the police treated it as juveniles with what seemed to me the right amount of caring. But I would point out the majority of twin falls did too. This story is about how the Russians and the alt right falsely made it seem like a huge deal in twin falls......the protests were generally sparsely attended, donations to the refugee resettlement were up. I feel like the Russian disinformation won if so many Times readers can, despite the articles clear contradicting details, leave this thinking it was all of twin falls itself.
7
I thank the Times for doing this report. The right wing fake news industry has been holding democracy hostage since the Clinton administration, and it's about time journalists stood up to it.
13
You are so correct. When I express the same sentiment folks think I'm being hyperbolic. HRC was correct when she stated that "there's a vast right wing conspiracy" out there spewing forth all kinds of fake news.
To assert that Lee Stranahan actually believes the vile tripe he writes and says is either naive or disingenuous. He's following the dollars, without regard for truth or for those who suffer damage because of him. No one on earth has more contempt for those who are fool enough to believe him than Stranahan himself.
10
I suspect that no-one has more contempt for Stranahan than Stranahan himself. I have no pity for his misery.
People like Lee Stranaha are not journalists, not by any stretch of the imagination, they are propaganda purveyors. Notice he now works for the Russian state sponsored propaganda site Sputnik. These are always weak minded easily manipulated people who learn the trade of manipulation and control from people like Steve Bannon, and end up preying upon and building their careers on the backs people just like themselves, The weak minded and easily manipulated, a.k.a. Donald Trump's base.
But hey when so-called real journalism hides legitimate journalism behind a pay walls fake journalism/Propaganda thrives in spreads because that's all these people have any longer. Journalism is being destroyed from without and within buy those whose only motive is profit in control, and it's much easier to generate profit and control people with propaganda that it is with the truth. Truth is the real victim here, it is being destroyed by the poison of ideology.
America better wake up soon or do United States is going to go the way of the dinosaur.
2
It is amazing how vehement and threatening these supposeldy good Americans are behaving towards their fellow townspeople. They are willing to threaten and abuse anyone who doesn't drink their brand of Kool_Aid. They are a disgrace to the country. Just what American values do they think they are preserving, intolerance, ignorance and bigotry?/ They want to project all their most lurid sexual fanatsies on people who look different or worship differently than they do. They are the ones who need to rethink what it means to be American.
Threatening your neighbor, someone who is an elected official in your town or that official's spouse and children, will not make America safe or preserve American values. It is just a copy of the Taliban's behavior in Afghanistan. If anything, these actions are a throwback to the fratricidal wars in the Middle East, where killing your brother or raping his woman, is accepted as a combat strategy in tribal warfare. Those who adopt such straegies here should be too ashamed to go out in the day light, much less tell people their names.
7
Man, disturbing. The danger to America is coming from these hateful Americans who don't take time to get their facts straight and are looking for somebody to vent their anger upon - not the 10 year old refugees of - What country again? Who cares, they're Syrian!
7
People like Lee Stranaha are not journalists, not by any stretch of the imagination, they are propaganda purveyors. Notice he now works for the Russian state sponsored propaganda site Sputnik. These are always weak minded easily manipulated people who learn the trade of manipulation and control from people like Steve Bannon, and end up preying upon and building their careers on the backs people just like themselves, The weak minded and easily manipulated, a.k.a. Donald Trump's base. But hey when so-called real journalism hides legitimate journalism behind a pay walls fake journalism/Propaganda thrives and spreads because that's all these people have any longer. Journalism is being destroyed from without and within buy those whose only motive is profit and control, and it's much easier to generate profit and control people with propaganda then it is with the truth. Truth is the real victim here, it is being destroyed by the poison of ideology. America better wake up soon or do United States is going to go the way of the dinosaur.
1
As one of the subjects of this story, I think it's important to point out how dishonest it is. Simply put, it's a hit job.
There s a complete lack of citations or specific quotes from my storie. This keeps the reader from being able to reference the source material and making up their own mind.
I'm in the process of outining the dishonestly on myTwitter feed. It's times like this that the Public Editor position that the Times cut for budget reasons is sorely missed.
4
What 'source material?' Did you do and say those things or didn't you? You are evidently quite confused about the nature and practice of journalism.
13
In 1958 in what became known as the "Kissing Case," internationally acclaimed attorney Conrad Lynn represented two young black boys from North Carolina, age 7 and 9, who were charged with rape because they had kissed a young white girl on the cheek.
The boys, who were held for months without bail, were eventually released after supporters, including Eleanor Roosevelt, led an international campaign on their behalf.
10
I find it hard to believe this is the kind of speech the Founding Fathers were protecting with the First Amendment. If lies become the perceived reality, then they become reality. And believers of that reality won't change their minds, even when the real truth comes out. Very scary.
6
I am worried about our democracy. Angry irrationality is on the rise to a point I haven't seen at any other time in my life. We are the new Weimar Republic transitioning into something else, and Muslims are the new Jews, Mexicans the new gypsies, blacks the new, well, blacks. We have become a one party nation governed by its extremist wing, who is, alone, privy to the truth and can't abide with dissent Even from within. Perhaps human behavior is immutable, subject to failure and decline under stress. Could we head into a new dark age? In this small city in Idaho they seem to have passed that way.
9
What a disgusting display of human stupidity and dishonesty. Right in the heartland. Just like the craziness when small Idaho town became the mecca for unbelievable sexual acts perpetrated by local school teachers. Several completely innocent lives were sent to prison and destroyed, and the spreaders of the falsehoods slunk away into oblivion. Here we go again. What in god's name causes people to express false information when they either have no idea of the truth or make it up. This is the cruelty of human beings without sense, education, or basic intelligence. And to think Trumpolini encourages all this stuff from the White House no less. What has happened to the simple kindness and decency of the American people? Indifference, blindness, laziness, ignorance, all of that and much more. We have ruined the basis for a credible, believable, decent democracy and replaced it with a game-reality show mentality. Time to move to Canada.
5
If hundreds of women assaulted is an "incident", what is your definition of a crime? On top of being assaulted, the victims in Cologne were accused for days of racism (German right?) and xenophobia (Nazis right?) because they denounced asylum seekers. Took days to analyze the security footage and confirm their side of the story.
Minimize the sexual assaults in Cologne doesn't compensate the exaggerated reports from Twin Falls.
7
As someone who lived in Cologne and am familiar with what did happen, there was much more that was fabricated or exaggerated so it is not just what you and most Americans know of.
When reports of Cologne came out I remember hearing several German women scoffing on the radio that this was a new thing or just refugees. According to them there's long been a problem with German men acting like that at big night festivals, growing worse all the time and they felt the focus on the immigrants joining in was obscuring the overall problem of men feeling free to take liberties.....
the police reports were not fabricated.
I was shocked when I read comments posted in the local newspapers about my aunt, an organizer of the ACLU in Arizona (and a friend of Barry Goldwater) and a Democratic Party activist. I was saying to my wife how much more civilized the readers of the New York Times are.
But after reading this story, I wonder. Are the Times readers so much more decent and civilized? Or does the crazy hate that this story describes exist here, too?
3
Sounds like a great place to flyover.
5
Deplorable is far-too-polite a word for most of the ill-informed, wanton hate-mongering people in this article.
5
So the good, "patriotic" anti-Muslim citizens of Twin Falls were duped by Russian fake news and propaganda. Too funny!
5
Always with white girls and women being in peril of rape by an "other." Doesn't matter what century it is, there always will be an other threatening the chastity and purity of white women and girls. Yellow Peril, Mexicans on reefer, Birth of a Nation ... now this. We have no historical memory, and I think some such perspective in articles like this might help just a sliver.
7
We talk about the high incarceration rate of criminals here in the US. What about the other criminals, the small-town white, Christian bigots who perpetrate evil? They're criminals too. No wonder zombie movies are so popular, the brain dead are all around us in real life.
11
It's not a crime to be a bigot, or for that matter, to live in a red state.
Just goes to show how one tiny lie can easily blossom and grow
into poisonous fruit of epic and astounding proportions. How a few hundred Facebook ads could adversely effect the 2016 Presidential election.
We have no idea at all how powerful an effect a nationwide Facebook ad program could really have. This is just one small example of what misinformation in the right place at the right time can do.
Definite proof $100,000 in "Fake News" Facebook ads by Russian operatives
could easily have influenced voters in key States like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to vote for Trump. More reason to complete a thorough and relentless investigation and get to the bottom of Russian hacking and possible collusion by the Trump campaign in the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election. Was the election stolen by the Republicans who conspired with the Russians? I sure want to know and I think millions and millions of other Americans want to know too. Trump as President is a scam and a fraud just like Trump University.
7
You can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater. Today, when lies spread like fire on social medial, I think they should be illegal, too.
That's a slippery slope, you say?
I say we're on one already.
6
Like Tangier Island, right wing claiming territory from Bama to Boise. And like Tangier it's a sinking ship. Great article recently on WaPo about "Why Tim Kane Wants to keep Trump Country from Sinking into the Chesapeake."
Where does the GOP and its satellite find these people? Bannon, Manafort, Stranahan, the Swift Boat creatures who are also the Citizens United creatures, Roger Stone, Lee Atwater, the list goes on and on. Is it the profession that brings the sleze out or the beliefs?
4
Take social media out of the picture and the story goes away. Explain to me why social media is of any value.
4
What so alarms me about this article - well - besides most of it - is that the Russians had their social media guns pointed at Twin Falls, Idaho. God that is scary.
8
It is like the McMartin case in L.A. in so many ways. The kicker of course is that Breitbart made sure nothing but misery rained down on this poor small place. The rallies were of course pitiful and barely attended, the charges against a yogurt company (a foreign one- that's all the proof we need!) were forcibly stomped out by law, and everything that "happened" didn't.
5
The Fells Acre day care case here in MA, and the one in Edenton NC, too. All these cases were the same, hysteria over allegations of devil worship, torture and sexual abuse of little children. In the Fells Acre case, the entire MA judiciary up to our Supreme COurt, and prosecutors in the DA's office - sophisticated and educated people - went right along with children whose coached accusations were bizarre to the point of fantasy, and easily and immediately able to be disproven. But nontheless, school employees and the owners were imprisoned for years. And this was in the days before Facebook and social media.
2
Add McMartin Preschool to that sorry list.
I live right in the middle of these people, several miles from Twin Falls. This area is a bastion of people,who get all their news from Fox, InfoWars, Rush and Breitbart. It is a challenge to avoid political topics in the workplace, school functions, grocery store visits, etc. As a registered Democrat, I have never felt one bit represented by our elected officials, though I would be loathe to register as a Republican in order to participate in the all-Republican elections. I don't want my name associated with that political party, even in protest. It's a shame that these folks whose ancestors took this land from the natives are now so hateful towards people who just want a better life for their families.
15
Mobs of men, many of them asylum seekers from the Middle East, pick-pocketed and groped more than a thousand women in and around a train station. The German police acknowledged the incident had taken place
Didn't this turn out till be fake need too?
1
Twin Falls has 50,000 people. It is not a small town. Now Genesee is pretty small, as is Palouse WA. Johnson WA is no metropolis either.
Writing, research, concusion at its best. Thank you
4
"should be allowed to publish false information"
It is called freedom of the press.
I think it's also called slander, or perhaps libel ..... And there are laws against that.
2
First-rate journalism! The next step for the few remaining rational residents of Twin Falls: get away while you still can from that infernal, hopelessly backward enclave of superstition and bigotry. I don't see why anyone would want to live in such a place or operate a business in such a place. The Pacific States of America (California, Oregon, Washington) constitute for all practical purposes a separate country: progressive, diverse, inclusive, generally rational, outward-looking, future-oriented, committed to secular public education, and certainly prosperous.
5
Which is why, among other reasons, we have bought land in Oregon to retire on someday.....
Muslim -owned Chobani would do well to close down their million square foot manufacturing plant in Twin Falls and move it to a state that would welcome and appreciate it's diverse workforce, jobs, and contribution to the community. I suspect the rest of Twin Falls might reconsider their belief in the conspiracy theories of Stranahan and Infowars were the major economic engine of their town to disappear.
6
Chobani is owned by a Greek/American immigrant, who is not Muslim.
1
Actually, Mom, he is Turkish. His religious affiliation? Don't know, don't care. His business has given a lot of jobs to a lot of people here, kudos to him.
1
Just hair-raising! Hair-raising! The stupidity, the gullibility of some people. NYT has done America a good service with this report. Now if we liberals could only be a little less gullible about our own witch hunts like the hysteria over genetically engineered foods, I would feel a little more smug about our own grasp of reality. I guess it all depends on whose ox is being gored. Evidence and facts are quickly dispensed with when they don't agree with our beliefs.
3
"They believed that establishment politicians wanted to turn red states like Idaho blue by starting wars and then importing refugees from those war zones"
This shows how deranged these people are. The wars are started by the right wingers they themselves vote for, and lament America's "weakness" because it doesn't start *enough* wars. (I wish liberals were as clever and effective as they are accused of being.)
And the rest of it shows what mean, ignorant thugs they are. That kind of behaviour is not justifiable in any circumstances.
2
Brilliant reporting; making sense of a crazed chain of events with objectivity and logic. Thank you, NYT.
4
it seems that not much has changed in the psyche of rural America since the Salem witch trials
1
While attempting to describe an "incident" at Cologne New Years 2015/16 you neglected to add the fact that mainstream German media refused to report on said "incident" and it was only admitted after videos appeared on Twitter and YouTube -- about three days after the attacks took place -- the fact that the media blindly accepted the lies of the Police is the most disturbing element of this "incident"
3
Excellent reporting.
Less David Brooks, more of this please.
6
If you take about a 20 mile drive northeast of Twin Falls, you will reach Minidoka National Historic Site- one of the internment camps where Japanese Americans were interned during World War 2. Minidoka had the highest number of military volunteers of any internment camp- and the highest number of casualties. One of those volunteers was William Nakamura, interned with his family from Seattle, WA. He was a private in the U.S. Army- 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He was killed by enemy fire in Italy- on the 4th of July 1944. Initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism, his award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 2000. He made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, despite his family being held prisoner behind a barbed wire fence. Due solely to their ethnicity. It's easy to get caught up in hysteria and fear of people that look, act, or worship differently that you do, or have different political or cultural norms that govern their behavior. But the fabric of our democracy, and the strength of our nation, depends on all of us being vigilant against hysteria and hate. In 2017, with a nation deeply divided, the words of our 16th President at his First Inaugural Address in 1861 still resonate today, where he appealed to "the better angels of our nature". Hopefully, "the mystic chords of memory" include reflection on the sacrifices of Private Nakamura and others who have defended our freedom and democratic values against tyranny and hate.
10
Ken Burns' Vietnam War series recalled tonight that over 50% of Americans in 1970 believed that the National Guard was justified in gunning down students at Kent State. I think our population have improved somewhat since that time, but this story indicates that we still have a long way to go.
6
A significantly large portion of United States citizens are in a cult. It's quite astonishing that so many people are easily persuaded to believe almost anything. I've made a big mistake in thinking that the average person thinks rationally. It's almost horrifying to think what comes after.
6
It is time to require clear identification between Mainstream News Media and scandal sheets like Breitbart. Same for the right-wing conspiracy news papers, websites and TV/radio shows are just making stuff up, otherwise known as lies. People look to mainstream newspapers and news networks for factual-based news. My friends and I used to "read" the national Enquirer for laughs. The over the top headlines and story lines were just too funny to be real. While these conspiracy groups are trying their best to look like real news while just making stuff up. The "reporter" Stranahan is clearly a little off. He is not a trained journalist and his hodge-podge approach to reporting is clearly part of the problem. Generally, if a person can't make a reasoned argument for their viewpoints they really shouldn't be reporting on any subject.
Fear and gossip is a bad mix in any town, especially a small one.
6
Sadly, this story is not a new one. It's just been updated for our time.
Look no further than fictional stories like "The Music Man" where some well timed words turn a peaceful town upside down. Not because the residents of River City are ignorant but because they are gullible and ripe for manipulation, fueled by a mob mentality that resists reasonable inquiry and thoughtful examination.
What floors me is how neighbor can turn on neighbor, and what devistaion is left behind when the likes of Breitbart and company have moved on to their next victim. It may take years for Twin Falls to truly recover. And all for what, I must ask?
4
I urge readers to pay close attention to the perfidious role played in this unfortunate drama by Steve Bannon, Bretbart, Lee Stranahan, and the Russians. This is what they do, have no doubts about it. Every American who believes in justice and truth has to gather his or her strength--we each have our own part to play--to rescue our country.
4
I'm sitting next to two young Muslim women dressed in hijabs on the train, giggling and chatting,as young people do. While reading this compelling tale, I am sad for them and sadder for who we've become as Americans.
6
At the article's conclusion I was just sad. I lament for our great nation and people. What has happened? Then again, is not this same story and the actions of manipulators and the thoughts and fears of the ignorant the same here in France? It's why Le Pen is so popular. Is all "this" just part of the Human Condition? Are we doomed to be in a constant fight for sanity, education and making cogent arguments? As a reader of history, I see this story being repeated throughout time. I guess I am naive enough to have thought it had passed. Lastly, Bannon and Breitbard are the scourges of the earth. I cannot think of anyone individual and organization contributing more to the downfall and detriment of society.
2
“How Fake News Turned a Small Town Upside Down,” is a very modern-sounding headline. And the various actors in the situation (at least the ones not local to the area) are people whose names have all but become memes in today’s American society.
But as I read the story, I was surprised at how it mirrored another history, also about Idaho, from many years ago. The old story was recounted in “The Boys of Boise: Furor, Vice and Folly in an American City” by John Gerassi [New York: Macmillan, 1966.]
“The Boys of Boise” is also about sexual panic, only then it was “homosexual panic” in the years before start of the modern gay rights movement. It too was fueled by people who wanted to cause a sensation and saw some personal advantages in so doing. In the end there were 12 convictions and many more had their lives turned upside down.
This type of fearmongering nor the fearmongers involved are not a new phenomenon, and this situation is not some new surprising development in Idaho. Then, as now, facts were not particularly important to the scandalmongers. Even without the internet, the older scandal seemed to spread just as rapidly by word of mouth.
3
Scanner Man is a very good representative of the average Twin Falls resident. I hope this story is hurting them. Idaho needs to pull it's head out of its bottom.
2
I have lived in big cities for 17 years of my life (including NYC). I now live in a suburban republican stronghold and am trying to convince my partner that we should move back amongst our "own kind" to a major urban area. After reading this story, I am beginning to think the opposite. Somehow we have separated ourselves into big and urban (which often equates to liberal) or small rural, frightened, and often racist communities...and they are winning. Yes, lots of this is due to gerrymandering but unless we change the constitution, which I am hesitant to do, maybe people like me (and the Mayor of Idaho and family) need to stay put and fight to get our county back from these Breitbart type nut cases.
4
Hardly any reaction in the comments to the threatening calls and emails? This was the worst part of the story for me - that people would stoop so low as to threaten and harass based on the flimsiest of reasons. It makes me wonder sometimes just how thin the veneer of humanity is on some of us.
7
They are too busy castigating those same people who got the calls themselves, having apparently have read it, missed the part about sparsely attended and small group in favor of thinking the whole town is like that....don't get me wrong, Idaho is very conservative and has more than its share of nutcases too (places like Idaho attract them ) but the compelling story to me is the mayor, the editor, the police chief main ting their humanity and compassion and holding the line best they could against small town bigotry, aided by the true villains: far right news and Russians.
1
Towns around the country and local libraries should start offering free forums to all citizens on how to separate real journalism (information based on fact-checking) from fake "news" as a public service. Otherwise, our country is doomed when many Americans rely on Facebook for information. Even a high school dropout should be able to learn the difference.
It's a brave new world. Parents....teach your children well.
When the tectonic plates that bind a community are fractured the after shocks can keep returning for generations. After the troublemakers, like Lee Stranahan have left and gone on to pursue their careers the good people of Twin Falls can make a choice. To embark on a period of active rapprochement or pretend it never happened and cover over the fissures. The People's Supper is a good place to start.
Journey with courage and kindness,
[email protected] .
2
"Citizen journalism" in this case is a sorry joke for anyone who values fairness and truth, but serves as powerful fuel for those who believe anything they read on Facebook. We're entering truly surreal times.
We would do well to get rid of the obnoxious catch-all phrase "fake news". Existing distinctions between false reports, propaganda, misreported facts, bias, opinion, speculation, false inference, unsound arguments etc. - these provide a precise and detailed descriptive toolbox.
Reducing distinctions to convenient and misleading single term that can then be thrown about like a slur is very much part of the problem and part of the strategy of the demagogues and authoritarians that we are fighting against. We must resist this dangerous impoverishment of our critical vocabulary, which threatens to undermine objectivity by collapsing all distinctions into a relativistic mud.
If such a large percentage of the community in Twin Falls is LDS and the Mormon Church is pro-refugee, where is the church during all this hysteria? The bishops and other leaders should step up for moral leadership.
7
Great article. Articles written like this is why I've been paying to read the times since I graduated college... only 2 decades ago. Thank you.
3
Call things by their true name. Fake News=Lies
1
Here's my childhood, growing up in Twin Falls, boiled down to a single paragraph:
"The local Police Department investigates sex crimes on a weekly basis, and in about half a dozen of those that proceed to court each year, the victims and the accused are both minors. 'If it’s younger kids, it’s them being curious,' J.R. Paredez, the lead investigator on the case, explained to me. Some children who act out sexually have been victimized themselves, he said, while others have been exposed to explicit material at home or at school or, as is more common recently, on their cellphones."
Not a single word of this article comes as a surprise. Five generations of my family have lived in Twin Falls. I was born there, and I am from there. But it is not my home. And it is not my children's home. The sexual abuse I suffered for my entire childhood was the furthest thing from "being curious." It was learned behavior; in some families, like mine, it is passed down like eye or hair color. In some families, like mine, the behavior became normalized generations ago, and is used to test loyalties. And kept secret. And done entirely on purpose.
No one will ever be able to convince me that Twin Falls isn't a place that brews the perfect storm for this. Its toxic blend of geographic isolation, xenophobia, sexism, and violent perversions are very much shared experiences for most who live there, sewn deep into its soil, where only the most difficult and aggressive things try to grow.
8
Your story took my breath away. I'm sorry for your pain and I celebrate that you escaped from that dark place that will never be your home.
Growing up, I was repeatedly reminded of the adage that one should not believe everything one reads. Not because I was particularly susceptible but because it was common wisdom which stood the test of time. Unfortunately, in this age of way too much information of every type, it seems common sense has taken a back seat to bias and emotions. Perhaps reminding ourselves, our family and our neighbors of this simple truth would help?
1
I was born in Boise and my grandfather was a prosecuting attorney in Idaho during and after World War II. My brothers and cousins and I all take great pride and inspiration from family stories about our grandfather standing up to anti-Japanese bigots in that era trying to bring inflated accusations against Japanese-American citizens in his part of Idaho. Up the his death, and even until the death of our grandmother, many of those families sent him baskets of goodies at Christmas time.
Even today, parts of Idaho can feel like barely modernized Old West frontier, and all the implications that brings with it. There is a not-so-small contingent of people who feel justified in serving their form of justice outside of the court system. And a mirrored faction who hold dear a certain "live and let live" sense of freedom advocating for the rights of everyone against the tyranny of both government and fellow residents.
I like to hope that advocates of liberty prevail.
2
When, rightly or wrongly, the city "officials" refuse to release information of course you'll get rumors and speculation. These same officials were more interested in protecting their jobs than in protecting the public.
1
I agree with others - Pulitzer Prize article. Every American should read this. Thank you Ms. Dickerson and New York Times. A shout out to Nathan Brown and the local Times News who were pursuing the truth, not for glamour or fame, but because it was their job as journalist. Thanks to all of you.
5
Were I a high school English or social studies teacher, which I'm not, I'd right now be planning lessons putting together materials like Arthur Miller's 'Crucible,' the story of Emmet Till, and this piece by Caitlin Dickerson. Awareness of U.S. history and critical thinking skills - not to mention empathy - are seriously needed if civility and democracy are to prevail.
3
Here we see a perfect storm of poor human judgment and strong emotional reactions with a tendency to associate with others who share the same views distorted hugely by truly mean individuals using our first amendment rights as a free space from which to deceive and manipulate people who are too unlearned or too poorly self disciplined to sense a malefactor at work.
The serious of the misbehavior and the age of the suspects demands great care in understanding what happened and how to deal with it. But too many in the community could not seem to manage themselves to allow that to happen. The ability to satisfy curiosity and to calm worry can be accomplished by good reporting if the audience trusts the reporters. Good journalism requires not just reporting information provided by others but confirming the facts and foregoing questionable views and witnesses which would introduce falsehoods and misrepresentations. But here we had a man who makes a living dispensing narratives which resonate with his audience but which are unconfirmed or outright fabrications, not an honest journalist but an agent provocateur. Then the local public included too many people who preferred the narrative of the manipulator which conformed to their biases. It was a complete breakdown of civil conduct and reasonable consideration leading to the sad results.
The saddest aspect of this story, and there are many, is that a huge segment of our society has no desire or ability to investigate or validate the information that they consume. Not that this is a new concept, but the delivery of disinformation is indistinguishable from the delivery of factual news. It’s heartbreaking.
This is the death rattle of critical thought and objectivity.
1
Fake news thrives, in part, because accurate news reporting is thwarted by government and the legal system. The justification is often "protection of minors" or protection of accused people who are not convicted. In the Twin Falls story, the outcome could have been different if the police and government officials had been forthcoming with facts.
Though it doubtless played a part, latent bigotry does not explain this. What does is this: Any American born before, say 1980, came of age in a world where almost everything one read, heard it on the radio, or saw on a screen, was more or less trustworthy because it had been vetted by a professional. Crackpot ideas spread through chain mail and weird newsletters. The older one is, the longer one lived in and acclimated to that world. But that world is now gone and tens of millions of Americans are quite evidently unequipped to do the vetting the new milieu demands of them.
Trump is the product of this information revolution.
2
Compelling long-form journalism that kept my attention from the first sentence to the last. Kudos (and journalism prizes, I hope) to the reporter for the months spent following this story from all sides and to every possible source.
Just when you start to worry that our democracy is falling to pieces, you read about a responsible mayor and small town newspaper staff risking their well-being and livelihoods to stand up to bigotry and lies. How many of us can be that brave, even when we know the cause is just? I am inspired.
4
Mainstream media and social media leaders must get together and hammer out a modern FAIRNESS DOCTRINE, which prohibits publishing lies and false equivalencies.
We used to have a FAIRNESS DOCTRINE for mainstream media until Ronald Reagan abolished it in 1986. Taking a look at media reporting before the loss of the FAIRNESS DOCTRINE what we saw was a serious loyalty to sharing only facts without embellishment. No teasers, or a focus on lightweight entertainment. No interviews with flat earth proponents (false equivalencies).
The news could be counted on to inform citizens and give them the information they needed to form thoughtful opinions and act responsibly at the ballot box.
The loss of the Doctrine resulted in the rise of Fox, and an uninformed population voting their manipulated emotions. France does not allow a version of Fox in their country; most of Marine Le Pen's supporters were younger voters who got their news from Facebook and Twitter.
Would the current resident of the White House reside there without the support of fake news and Russian trolls?
A modern FAIRNESS DOCTRINE would be a promising start to cleaning up our fact-free information overload.
Excellent article on how extreme writings disrupt many lives. It's far right media (not true journalism)like this that inflames division in the American people.
3
Bannon and individuals at other content originators, make big bucks off "users" they manipulate for political purposes. The totality and ease they are able to manipulate users with invented "facts" would make for a comedy of errors if their fictions didn't materialize in the real world with such negative affect. Overall, their actions give new meaning to the phrase "nefarious intent."
Mark Twain penned the phrase:
It's easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.
It's difficult to believe such activities were what was intended when the Founders included freedom of the press, freedom of speech/expression in the 1st Amendment.
The Dec/Independence set out Spirit and Intent of their actions and speaks at length on forming new gov'ts.
It's unfathomable they would support establishment of a new gov't built on lie upon lie upon lie on lie.
"whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes..."
Many grievances in Dec/Independence have resurfaced as valid grievances today.
Unaddressed "redress of grievances" as provided by 1st amendment have led to unintended consequences in the past.
14
This sentence: "Stranahan struck me as passionate about his stories; not about their veracity but about the freedom he and the critics of refugee resettlement should have to speculate as they wanted without being belittled by the fact-mongering mainstream. "
God bless the fact-mongering mainstream.
4
I know know the first amendment is sacred but doesen’t a publication have to exercise some care before publishing derogatory information about individuals even if they are public figures? Here Breibart is simply republishing the wildest conspiracy without exercising any judgment other than will it sell.
The only legal check on reporting a false news story is a civil lawsuit for defamation. In such a lawsuit, the plaintiff has to prove intent and "malice" to lie by the reporter or news organization. In this case, the accused children would be the only real parties with the option to sue. They aren't going to do it because it's expensive and hard to win - especially against a rich opponent like Bannon and Breitbart. Plus, the children can be compelled to testify in the civil case and then that could be used against them in the criminal case. I think it's no accident that these types of fake stories target poorer people. Notice that the article says the fake news outlets backed off stories about Chobani yogurt because it sued.
2
If we don't watch out, Fake News is really going to be the end of our Democracy and Putin will be laughing all the way to our doom!
BTW, all of this got started with the birther issue 8 years ago and is still resonant with 40% of the GOP.
186
No, the original "fake news" story was Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Once the Republicans got away with that one — abetted by Fox News, the gigantic right-wing media machine, and the august New York Times — they were emboldened to declare open season on the truth.
3
Social media needs to lose some of its anonymity. Especially when it comes to who is paying for the ads, and who is behind the "news" stories. It is truly frightening how many brainwashed people there are in this country, and fake news on Facebook is probably the leading cause.
106
Pulitzer Prize worthy article. Can the truth set us free? I hope so.
93
I had the exact same thought -- this reporting is absolutely stellar.
2
If he would of went into the white supremacists massing in idaho over the last couple of decades as background to why this kind of nonsense was able to take purchase, it could've been pulitzer worthy.
1
Thank you NYT for this reporting.
It's a story, I believe, of 'American poison'. Of a diet consisting of Popeyes, Pepsi, Fox News, reality tv -- on and on, it's all poison to our systems. No wonder people have gone nuts and are actually believing this stuff. Sad.
76
You think just because Lee Stranahan was a partially disabled, facially disfigured ex-pornographer he has some kind of axe to grind against the rest of the world? That he'd be susceptible to friendly overtures from the alt-right or even the Russians? I'd sooner believe Donald Trump would declare war on North Korea and the NFL simultaneously and consider the two to be equivalent.
27
He seemed pretty happy about working for Russia.
1
This article is horrifying. This is the new age of journalism, one controlled by alt-right "news" outlets pushing an agenda of fear. Sadly, many on the right are not just rabid consumers of this garbage, but they are downright fueled by it.
This is precisely how Trump got elected, and with the ever-increasing proliferation of right-leaning news organizations, the water will be poisoned for years to come.
We need laws to require journalism to be based on fact. Absent this kind of reform, democracy cannot survive.
88
........and just who do you think is trustworthy enough to make the decision about what fits your listed criteria? This isn't an issue of more control, it is an issue of education. We need for people to be educated enough to question what they hear and read.
Sure, let’s suspend the First Amendment.
I couldn't agree more. This Stranahan character starts with HuffPost, bounces over to Breitbart, adopts rabid anti Muslim views from Michelle Bachman (of all people) then ends up with a drive time talk show on Sputnik!? The mind both reels and seizes.
I always find it utterly ironic that the people most likely to be afraid of Sharia law are the ones that would impose their own Christian Sharia law on the rest of us.
Great article.
234
I live in Boise. We push back against the legislature every year against its "Christian Sharia" laws and bills. January through March I refer to the Statehouse as the Taliban.
1
Sammy, you mean like .... Mike Pence?
2
Many commenterd are insisting on libel laws to go after these sites. Would you then use those same laws to go after one of the worst cases of fake news ever - "Hands up, dont shoot"? Of course not.
There are narratives and MSM is just as guilty. It seems every time a black person is killed by police, it's national news, impression, only black people are killed by police. In fact, in actual numbers, more white people are killed by police but that is not reported. These narratives are just as damaging.
8
More white people are killed only because there are more white people in this country. A different story is told when you look at percentages or "per capita" numbers. In that case, blacks are killed at 2.5 times the rate of whites. And, all of these numbers have been reported in every MSM outlet I've read. The outlets that are not fake news always point out that although whites are killed in larger numbers, blacks are killed at a higher rate.
2
Show me some links with video of white people standing in a non-threatening manner, strolling down the street, and being shot by officers for no discernible reason. Have white people been killed by police? Of course they have. Show me the videos. Or do you think only black victims are in places where people have cell phones. In 2017 730 people were shot and killed by police https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2017/, less than half white.
1
The MSM actually agrees with you that in total, more white people are killed by police year to year! But... black people are disproportionately killed by police. According to the Washington Post, in 2016 "34 percent of the unarmed people killed this year were black males, although they are 6 percent of the population." Please note: unarmed! 6% of the population!
From the same article: "...when adjusted by population, black males were three times as likely to die as their white counterparts."
Do you see why that is a problem? It's a straw man argument to rail against the idea that "only" black people are killed by police. Your supposed opponents are making no such claim.
2
This article appears to be well thought out and well written, but why was this picture chosen to represent Twin Falls? It is as much of a misrepresentation of the City of Twin Falls as the original story was of what actually took place in that laundry room.
7
While Twin Falls is a beautiful city the picture represents the depressing vibes, ideas, racism, culture the people who have shrouded this city in represents. I grew up in the surrounding area. These people want to keep it white. That is the truth. Harsh.. right? And they will cling to lies to further the white agenda. While it doesn't represent everyone who reside there, it's enough to cloud the area. nothing has changed In this area culturally this is how Small town America lives. Donald has just embolden their voices. SAD!!
3
How did it misrepresent Twin Falls? It said, among other thing, that the conspiracy nuts were a minority, but much louder than the majority of apparently reasonable people.
And how do you suggest it be treated? There is an unlimited supply of invented stories, and it is extraordinarily difficult and time consuming to unearth the truth. Not every wacko invention can be persued.
This was an excellent piece of investigative reporting. It is frankly irritating that your takeaway is that it besmirches Twin Falls. Seems like a little besmirching of at least some folks there was in order.
1
The part about Camille Barigar, the mayors wife, receiving a veiled death threat in an anonymous phone call is very worrying. That is exactly how facism topples democracy.
68
Social media dialogue too often resembles the mass hysteria associated with the Middle Ages. We will know when as a society we have devolved to the Middle Ages when the dialogue found on social media starts to accuse moslems of poisoning Christian wells.
27
Accusing them of mass rapes of blonde, blue-eyed Christian girls ain't enough?
1
We really are at a cross-roads. Either facts matter or they don't, and people will have to decide which side of that divide they fall on. I'm not willing to have gun-toting, bible-thumping ignoramuses dictate to me. Humanity survived the first Dark Ages, but now the Ignoramus-in-Chief.
47
Small town religious types can't stand it when another person has a different religion. Combine that with extreme stupidity, and you have Twin Falls, Idaho.
I'm sure they already have their eyes on space invaders.
28
Ronald , It's not that they can't stand it but that they don't understand it , small towns and cities are insular and more concerned with their own sphere and space ; I'm sure they're good people( with a few exceptions) and this is the world over. It's about the influences that come to bear and reinforce suspicion and yes , sometimes superstition. In the Rod Serling episode When the monsters came to Maple Street addresses just that , rumor, innuendo, and hysteria out of control.
(R Sattler, 'there you have Twin Falls, . .') . . . well, maybe not the whole town are as delusional as you imply, but possibly even worse are those who are reasonably smart, & recognize what is happening, but refuse to speak up out of cowardice.
Fear of their neighbors & relatives.
THAT is the most chilling part of this one for me.
Nobody in a position of authority or respect would write a guest opinion in the paper??
Where is the local history teacher? Anyone want to review what happened in Germany in the 1930s?? What about community gatherings of LOTS of neighbors who DO know better, & who want fairness to prevail. . .. these people are letting themselves be bullied by an obviously mendacious minority.
I cannot imagine this happening in my community.
Am I the one in a bubble? Are these small, narrow-minded townspeople really what a majority of Americans look like these days?
1
And in which way would your comment help this situation? The article describes how a mostly outside crowd whips up a mob mentality and puts pressure on everyone in a small community to fall in line or be attacked. Dumping indiscriminately on those same people from a supposedly more "enlightened" place (and maybe you're actually not from Portland, that seems too cliche but rather a more sophisticated instigator of that same ilk) isn't what counteracts this deterioration. I feel for the mayor and his wife.
Great important story. Incredible work. Glad we subscribe.
56
Wow this reminds us that fear is a powerful weapon. This Twins Falls story reminds me of the allegory teleplays Rod Serling did on the Twilight Zone. Townspeople leaping from one conclusion to the next, letting fear and misinformation rule their thoughts and actions. So sad to read about it as a true story from a town like many in the US.
74
Two factors are converging and conspire to undo us. The first is that ignorance is, was and will always be rampant and second, that we are effectively under 'minority rule' as Michelle Goldberg points out elsewhere. Because of quirks in the electoral laws of this country, 50% of us (rural and republican) command 80% of the representation countrywide. The highly populated and diverse coastal states are not properly counted.
There is much good in small town America but diversity and tolerance may not be high up on that list. And over-representation of those narrow views at a national level have magnified what should have been grumblings into actions.
We will never have a concordance of views on many of the issues which this rural minority find controversial-- climate science, the right to choose, sensible limits on guns and the right to receive medical care without regard to your economic status, to pick just a few-- however, if the majority view prevailed (as it ought to), Mr. Trump and his cohorts would have been just a footnote rather than an officeholder. And an unfortunate incident between minors would not have been exacerbated into a cause celebre with racist and bigoted overtones.
These insights lead to some uncomfortable conclusions about where we are going as a nation.
77
Fake News spreads because it strongly appeals to our instincts, not to our rational minds. It can appeal to the Good Angels of Our Nature as well as to the bad. People are generous donors to charity and rational fear could reduce the effects of climate change and pollution - and Fake News. This article describes how malicious fake news spread lies that triggered fear and chaos. Part of the problem is the Reagan mantra that "the government is the problem" which fueled militias, distrust and fear, and voting for disruption. Add to that that gerrymandering, voter suppression and massive helpings of negative propaganda and we are arguably not a government of the people for the people and by the people anymore. These are dangerous times.
I'm not a fan of open borders because of human nature. Immigration is weaponized when it is used for cheap labor and the Politics of Hate. I remember Caesar Chavez offered to help patrol the border with his farm workers. Merkel's commendable grand humanitarian invitation to ME refugees empowered the right in Europe. It's tricky! After WWII we helped rebuild Europe (enemies included) then we left. It was a brilliant success for enlightened self interest. Unfortunately "American Exeptionalism" has addled our brains and empowered the Worst Angels of Our Nature. It doesn't end well.
23
Lay the blame where it belongs, though--at the feet of the Republican Party, likely to go down in history as Nationalist Socialist Party, Part Deux.
2
Excellent article. I think this should be required reading at journalism school.
35
Most small communities and rural towns tend to be xenophobic the world over , it could be a village anywhere . They tend to be gullible and if you get a Stranahan or an Alex Jones or web based purveyor of false misinformation into the mix , they seed what is known as paranoia and hatred toward what is different . What is shocking is that they manage to turn people's minds against those they have known most of their lives that are trying to uphold law and order or who see the situation rationally . The infection of mob mentality takes over. Stranahan is obviously a troubled man who has morphed thru many political beliefs ; perhaps his diabetes or the mote in his right eye has contributed to this mental aberration . Good article and very disturbing.
36
While I'm saddened by the story and think it is becoming all too common place in our society, let's not forget that the people in this town deserve just as much respect as the Muslim refugees. They are the "other" in the liberal progressive world. Let's judge and comment with that in mind. If you bash them for their ignorance or their inability to adapt to a globalized world, you are no better than them. Let's remember that, as much as you want to fight for the right for a Muslim family to continue practicing their culture/religion, you cannot deny that same right to the town's people. There is never going to be a perfect population of humans. We are all flawed. If they are mistaken in labeling Muslims as the enemy, then liberals are equally as guilty as labeling these towns people as their enemy.
Acknowledge there are basic conflicts between western values and conservative Islamic teachings. Challenging and evaluating the merits of both value systems should not be an afront to either, but welcomed modernization for both.
(FYI I was a refugee from Afghanistan that arrived to the US 1990 at the age of 3. I am so appreciative of the opportunities this country afforded me, including opening my family to western values of gender equality)
42
Thank you for sharing this excellent response.
15
Liberals aren't labeling these towns as the enemy. This is where the right is so far off-base. Trump has a tax plan that crushes the people in these towns and gives his Manhattan billionaires all kinds of tax breaks. While Obama wasn't perfect, he went out to rural America and talked about building up community colleges and the trade professions. I know he showed up in Boise. Trump and his cabinet have a plan to privatize all schools at such a high rate that the middle class and lower class will be lucky to get an education, unless DeVoss is stopped. Those aren't liberal policies, those are your conservative ones, designed to prop up the rich. I live not far from Twin Falls, I've never heard anyone say the people in this town are the "enemy." Quit perpetuating these myths.
68
You make a very good point but a) I see the most worrying aspect of the story not in some small communities being too conservative for their own good but that quite powerful forces instrumentalize those communities and that b) those forces currently have a friend in the WH. More thoughtful liberals (see TRS) don't declare those towns people enemies. It is the people who try to widen and exploit the differences who pose a real danger and jeopardize what you call welcomed modernization for both.
Maybe the good folks of Twin Falls should go to one of the five reservations in their state and speak to native Americans about how they treated refugees and immigrants, before those immigrants forced them to live on reservations.
28
This is one of the best and most important articles The NYTimes has published in a long time. Cudos to Ms. Dickerson. I had been contemplating not renewing my subscription. She is a reason to stay.
19
This is a great example of paranoia and opportunism running roughshod over truth and human rights. This type of thing could never happen is the more educated and enlightened precincts of America. Cough, Duke Lacrosse Case.
7
Lacrosse case has nothing to do with this. Too call that comparison pathetic is to insult the word pathetic.
1
Sorry to read about folks so confused and fearful and hateful.
The impact on any muslims in the area is left undiscussed.
The nature of the infraction remains cloudy. What children don't experiment? Did this go way beyond interracial "playing doctor"? While guidance does seem necessary how did this incident among children become sexual hysteria and panic on a wide scale? There is a wide diversity of sexual cultures and behavioral norms in our nation now and in our media. Some may see this variety simply as marketplace, but there is a psychic cost for some. But how did sex and muslims become the bogeyman in small town Idaho?
Well the Right wing is to blame. But I think it is time to end our national liberal consensus that freedom of speech also includes this sort of poisonous rumor mongering. Defamation laws really need to cover this irresponsible reporting, and one should not have to have alot of funds to shut down the online lie machine.. otherwise this fear is the rot that is destroying America town by town... that is the threat, not Muslims or refugees seeking freedom..
19
Anyone who says the “heart” of America can found in its small towns is absolutely right.
It is a “heart” that is filled with the darkness of ignorance, paranoia and hate.
A perfect symbol of what our nation has devolved to.
23
Imagine how might this have been different if the accused were white and the victim were brown. Would her parents have been the ones accused for neglectfully allowing this? Lord have mercy.
8
This is the real problem with creeps like Anne Coulter, and that Rupert Murdoch character with his carnival of monsters called Fox News. The vast majority of the population have no critical thinking skills, and are therefore easily led astray. The professional stirrers get rich spreading their hateful lies, exploiting the ignorance of their fans. Coulter doesn't really care about people like this, she cares about using them and their fear to make herself more and more money.
God bless America, huh?
24
When women in Islamic nations are literally arrested for showing their hair, it's hardly a surprise that many liberals like myself do not find Islam all that appealing as any ideology.
19
Stranahan did get one thing right: "It’s just easy to brand these people as a bunch of Islamophobic, racist yokels"
15
Putin has shown favoritism to the Russian Orthodox Church. He hasn't taken in any refugees. These two things are very important to the holier-than-thou "Christians" in small towns across America. They WILL take sides with Putin against America. They see Putin as a good, strong Christian man. They see America as a debauched, atheistic hellhole that is trying to kill them. Seriously. They've been hearing this crap for years on talk radio and Fox News and why we ever let this crap stand is a mystery. The U.K tossed Fox News out on its ear recently.
So yes, I do believe large segments of American society will choose Putin's Russia against "libtard america."
This is what you get when you allow hate speech as "free speech." Hillary Clinton was not lying when she talked of a vast rightwing conspiracy 25 years ago. For 25 years, rich conservative men have been buying up radio and tv stations and broadcasting hateful, devisive nonsense with the express purpose of turning the US into an oligarchic-run theocracy.
33
Well, one in particular, named Rupert Murdoch, has had a major influence in doing just that. With the Fox News propaganda channel broadcasting disinformation 24/7, its no surprise their viewer are clueless, upset, and confused.
Learn to use a gun, ride a horse, grow a garden, if you want to be alive by mid-century. And pray that North Korea's missiles don't work.
1
Having been born and bred on the eastern coast of America but since moved inland, I find it that the insularity of communities fosters fear of other nationalities and religions by comparison. On the Atlantic seaboard and near inland areas are immigrants from all countries and descendants of the Mayflower. There's a spirit to move ahead in life, work hard, and let others be. I've visited Boise and the communities around there. The city seemed progressive and historical. Now I live in a southern, landlocked area with some problems, though my community, part of a nationwide operation, is diverse and welcoming.
6
Lots of allegations, casting aspersions, insinuating, but no actual evidence that the original story was false.
9
The "original story" was three very young kids playing doctor in the laundry room. If you think this is an example of the international Muslim threat, you need medical attention. At least Mr. Stranahan is now open about working for state-run Russian "news"; whose special little agent are you?
23
Unfortunately, that is not the way truth works. Just as one is presumed innocent until proven guilty, stories are just stories - until they're proven TRUE.
Imagine, for a second, if anything anyone said of you - no matter how insulting, how damaging, or outright insane - was believed, unless you conclusively, irrefutably proved them wrong. Imagine then that you did go through the work of proving them wrong, but still they believed and repeated the story, because of course YOU would deny that, and simply arranged a vast conspiracy to cover up the truth.
That, essentially, is what you're advocating with the inane notion that a story -- from anyone, on any basis, is valid unless proven "false". Facts should always be the starting point of any story -- not the refutation.
22
Plenty of evidence, actually. No knife. Not Syrian refugees. Not rape. Handled according to the law, which appropriately protects minors from being identified and from prison. But not for you. Apparently, you'd like to see the video to be convinced. Strange of you.
24
Excellent reporting by Caitlin Dickerson and I really appreciated the photos, too. This is an amazing case study of journalism in America today, with the courageous local paper, Breitbart and even including the Russian involvement. The critical problem is that some journalistic reporting is held to a standard of truth and accuracy and some is not and the reader often cannot distinguish between the two. Our government today is not capable of adopting the reasonable Canadian approach, but I wonder if there's something that journalists could do independently -- a truth certificate that every outlet needs to earn by meeting clear standards judged by third parties?
15
Not a bad idea, but Fox News types won't believe anything but their pre-selected propaganda. They just won't. Too stupid, I guess.
1
The internet is a vast rumor-machine that, like global warming's effect on hurricanes, has increased the frequency and strength of these moral panics. It'll continue.
23
Thanks a ton for this story and the work that went into it. We have met the enemy and he is us, egged on and manipulated by the russians and the nuts among us who who no real job in life. The bright spot was:
"The refugee resettlement center received a dramatic increase in donations from local residents during the last year."
33
Unfortunately the information age is also the misinformation age.
34
WOW. Thanks Caitlin. What an interesting story. A lot of people seems to be so afraid of Islam and refugees. America has been isolated for so long, and the longer they resist integrating the more difficult it will get. Thank You for taking the time out to put this story together.
Interesting how each one of those characters, or at least some of them have some of their own personal issues which subconsciously influences their work.
So that is how the fake news works. Wow.
Thanks again. Take care.
18
Really? Maybe some Americans, not without justification, see abominations like Rotherham and worry that that might come here.
10
this was a story about an isolated incident involving children under 10. Comparing it to Rotherham is a bit of a stretch. You may as well just be afraid of everything that's ever happened in the world because it 'might come here.'
9
You worry about Muslims coming here, but not global warming? What are you, like, a real good swimmer?
2
Donald Trump has forced me to admit that I have misunderstood American history and American culture - and not in a good way. There have always been insular, provincial people who feel threatened by anything and anyone who is not exactly the same as they are, but I did not appreciate just how many tens of millions of those people there were, as well as the lengths they are willing to go to protect their insularity.
34
Elon should immediately get to work on a fleet of spaceships to fly these people to Planet Crazy where they can be as miserable as they want and consume themselves in irrational fears at no one else's expense.
20
Irrational fears? Are you not familiar with the growing number of terrorist assaults in France and Great Britain? Have you not heard of Rotherham? Have you not heard about the doctors in Michigan charged with female genital mutilation?
8
And they can have free WiFi on Planet Crazy and surf the internet all day.
6
Timothy McVeigh? Dylan Roof? Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook School).
1
The only "establishment politician" to start wars in Muslim countries in my lifetime would be George W. Bush, who if memory serves is a Republican. Are these paranoid conspiracy theorists raving about "globalists" suggesting that Republicans are trying to create an influx of refugees so they can turn Idaho and other red states blue and displace American workers? That's the problem with most conspiracy theories. If you follow them far enough you just end up in la-la land.
26
We need to expand libel and slander laws to curtail the gross misuse of our first amendment. I am disgusted with the ignorance and malevolence of so many of my countrymen and women.
22
You're swimming upstream: they are among the largest group of Americans that elected our self-important president....
4
True. But, they are only approx. 26% of eligible voters. Yes, still a number that is much too large however, they are not the majority and they have not yet won the battle.
From where I'm sitting, the chasm between what actually happened and how residents perceived what happened with these children was the fuel for this xenophobic firestorm of misinformation. Considering this, the fact that no public official made any attempts to disabuse any misperceptions says to me that they either wanted to fan the flames or they are just plain clueless.
15
This is so true. The police and other civilian authorities have to get right on top of incendiary stories quickly and competently. And that didnt happen here. Its safe to guess that the right wing propaganda machine would still have tried to make something of it, but the less confusion and the more clarity and transparency the better in these charged situations.
1
Cowards, actually, if you read the whole article.
1
This story may be about a small town, but where bigotry's concerned, it could well be about America today. And with Donald Trump in the White House, attacking the basic tenets of our Constitution, almost routinely, things can only get worse. I keep telling myself that over time Trumpism will fizzle out. But deep inside I know it's always been here and always will be here. It's human nature.
15
i love it that stranahan (?) continued to to avidly pursue his comedic writing career, knowing that brietbart is an the onion publication. kudos sir !!!!
6
A startling absence from this story: any faith leaders of this town that positions itself as devoutly Christian or, as it is Idaho, Mormon. Fear, confusion, hostility, anger, wrath -- guess they go running when these rear their head.
17
I think Dickerson was being overly deferential to the Latter Day Saints; it seems likely the tight-knit, ideologically monolithic Mormon "hive" was instrumental in spreading these increasingly elaborate and utterly false stories about the Islamic conquest of Idaho. If you'll believe in golden plates of interstellar wisdom and magic underwear, what won't you believe?
13
That's really sad, considering the earlier persecution of Mormons.
6
I am from Twin Falls, and while this story is very important, it unfortunately implies that my town is made up entirely of bigots and cowards. The photo used is not representative of the considerable growth and vitality that Twin Falls has experienced for the last 20 years, either. The first reason this story gained traction is because of the extremely successful refugee center based at the College of Southern Idaho, which, along with migrant labor fueling the farming and dairy industries, have turned Twin Falls into a multi-cultural, economic powerhouse. My kids attend schools with children from Bhutan, Nepal, Sudan, Bosnia (our local police force has several Bosnian officers) and refugees from other countries, which significantly enhances their educational experience. The second reason was Chobani, and its dynamic leader, Hamdi Ulukaya, who is also Muslim. Chobani built the world's largest greek yogurt plant in Twin Falls, and there is a brand new Clif Bar plant located right next door. There is, just like many parts of our country, a segment of our community that is fueled by white resentment, but it is small and stupid. It was that segment, however, that Breitbart, Alex Jones, and Trumpism exploited. The town held strong, however, and there were many courageous voices in addition to Shawn & Camille Barigar. That includes most of my Mormon friends for those who were curious (I am not LDS). You should all come visit.
174
So Stranahan goes from being a libertarian, to a liberal, to a conservative, to someone working for a Russian radio station? Obviously principals are not his strong suit.
29
Stranahan is a true American: he'll lie on behalf of whomever is currently paying his salary, even when it endangers his fellow Americans.
10
Alas, he's not alone -- 12% of Bernie supporters voted for Trump. I think they liked the same angry tone and encouragement of grievance offered by both.
And most likely are just as fact-resistant.
7
The crux of this article raises the question as to whether freedom of speech allows someone to spread slander for profit. Coomon decency should demand that Breitbart be shut down and that Stranahan needs to be quiet.
15
Excellent reporting by Caitlin Dickerson. Living 45 minutes from Twin Falls, we knew the refugee crisis was exaggerated beyond belief. The fact that this mistaken information was hacked by the Russians and played out over numerous media outlets shows how volatile fake news can be among the Trumpian troops across America. I appreciate a paper like the NY Times that takes the time and effort to gather the facts, interview all sides concerned and report what actually happened, not just what someone "heard" happened and jumped to conclusion. Hooray for responsible journalism.
35
Areas of the world where Sharia law is the norm probably resent the encroachment of Christianity just as much. It's not that there's anything wrong with just us. Certain things are insoluble because they were probably meant to be used pure.
1
I am sure the Taliban would agree.
1
I'm not quite sure how you deal with people who have absolutely no moral compass. Lying is second nature to them and their leader Trump, how this ends well for America is a mystery to me. If I was younger I would be seriously banging on Australia's door.
22
"If I was younger I would be seriously banging on Australia's door."
Have you read the comments here from Australia? They're just a whiter and drunker version of us.
11
If I was you, I would be thinking twice about knocking on our door, unless and until our current corrupt government is chucked out on its ear. Egged on by the MSM, particularly the bile spewed out 24/7 by Rupert Murdoch's fake news empire, this once egalitarian and open society is gradually being reduced to something resembling yours. Maybe not quite as rich at the top end and thankfully, with very few guns. You only have to look at how 100's of asylum seekers have been confined to foreign offshore islands in jail-like arrangements, funded by our government but apparently not under its jurisdiction, by the worst thug and fascist bully boy of the lot - the "Right Honorable" Peter Dutton, Minister for Immigration and Border Control. All these poor souls did was desperately seek refuge from persecution in their own countries by risking a terrible sea journey and they have been left to rot for years, treated with cruel disdain by the Oz government, some being murdered and others resorting to suicide. Not pretty and not in my name. Don't be fooled by pictures of the beaches, the amazing wildlife and the apparent civilisation in this land. There is a nasty, mostly white, ignorant rascist underbelly dwelling within this nation and our urbane, but weak and utterly spineless Prime Minister just panders to them and to the far RWNJ's of his own mob (the "Liberal" Party of Australia). Urrrggggghhhh. And don't get me started on how we treat our First Peoples. Disgracefully will do.
The immigrant panics of today remind me a lot of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and early 90s. Back then people were sure that daycare centers were murdering children and that teens were being driven to commit unspeakable horrors because of heavy metal music and Dungeons and Dragons.
Back then many people had their lives ruined by the panic. Today I worry that we are going to ruin the whole country with our new one. And Russia will happily push it along.
I recommend listening to the This American Life podcast #621 on the same topic https://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/621/fear-and-loath...
13
Maybe you should Google Rotherham before you opine.
2
Deplorable. Hillary was correct. What is happening in and to America is deplorable. Call it what it is. Deplorable.
30
RM
...and we need an opposition leader to guide us and help turn the tide. Just not Hillary.
1
Open the window and let the air in! What is going on in small town America ? The hatred, stupidity and outright bigotry is disheartening . What century are we living in ? This is America the greatest democracy in the world? Not! It has not served small town Americans well.
Have people lost the ability to think for themselves ? I have an idea of who the culprits are in this jig and that is an unrelenting diet of talk radio spewing one conspiracy theory after another and good old fashioned religion sanctifying it from the pulpit. This is sad.
Who is to blame for this ? Smarmy politicians and that divisive band of Trump surrogates! They have done nothing to elevate the conversation or better these people’s circumstances. They feed into the isolation and distrust of citizens. I am sure many of these folks are fine upstanding and caring citizens. They have been made to feel fearful of strangers and powerless in their communities. These charlatans should be run out of town!
13
Quick question being from NYC:
Please explain to me why small town America is so adored again?
24
Strawhat
"Please explain to me why small town America is so adored again?"
Because its problems can be buried easily, leaving a landscape that can be viewed superficially as "quaint" or even "ideal".
6
@Ryan - Not if you live in one. Everyone knows your business before you do, and they never get it right. Pressure to conform is palpable. And the consequences for straying from the norm can be enormous.
1
What a sick and frightening mindset has taken hold in red state America. Twin Falls sounds like a setting from a Stephen King novel, except there really is an evil clown inciting the locals, and he lives in the White House.
35
So we just ignore the fact that a sexual assault of a 5 year old girl took place? Who is evil again?
5
Been there while moving here from Denver, there is nothing redeeming about Idaho, it's a state you drive through. Stayed in Twin Falls, it's so boring they get hysterical when they run out of quarters for their laundry
2
Assault ON, not of. It probably wasn't an assault at all, but, if it was an assault, it was perpetrated ON someone, not OF someone. It's called English and the correct use of prepositions therein.
Note to self: don't ever go to Twin Falls, Idaho.
17
I wonder why many people believe that shariah law would be used in American courts. If American courts barely use Christian laws (such as no abortion at all) then how could they use Islamic law (such as no abortion). We have a desperation of religion and state for a reason, if anything it’s these alt-right people who want to destroy that balance by having our judiciary follow christian law. Anyway, a shout-out for those who speak truth! You guys are great, even if the truth sometimes isn’t!
14
This story sounds like it could have been an episode of the Twilight Zone, except the story would have been about outer space aliens. This is frightening. What's next? Lynching?
17
Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem.
Why are we so surprised? Our media-fueled attitudes are amplified a thousand-fold which gives credibility to prejudice beyond anything previously imagined possible. Many of us fail to examine any proposition more than superficially, preferring to allow screamers like Coulter, Riley, Bannon, et al. to fill in the literal blanks: it's a whole lot easier than thinking rationally for themselves, especially when a roomful of your good friends and neighbors are joining in the feeding frenzy.
Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem. Salem.
11
"Think about how stupid the average person is and then realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
37
Gawd, I miss him!
1
Listening to Stranahan right now on his Periscope broadcast defending himself to no end...he clearly feels hurt and exposed about his shoddy and biased reporting. Who spends 5+ minutes drilling down into how he met his wife and some detailed explanation about his past as "award-wiinning black-and-white erotic photographer that had photos in galleries...?" (Stranahan quote). Whatever. He can't admit the damage his "journalism" has done to Idaho Falls community. And he never ceases to stop pushing his citizenjournalismschool.com, which is so hokey and scummy that's it fits right in with his questionable ethic. He's challenging Caitlin to go on his show and "have a dialogue." She should do it... and put him in his place, which is a right-wing propagandist.
9
What does his past work in erotic photographer, or whatever it was, and how he met his wife, have to do with this story? That detail was thrown into the story just to be nasty and normally the NYT would agree.
2
"Nasty?" No. It's part of his resume.
9
Hitler never worried about the truth and neither do the right wingers.
17
Same for CNN
4
At least they hold-televised debates from both sides of the aisle. When was the last time Fox News held a televised debate with dems and republicans? I’ll wait.
19
Nah. CNN just reports news that clearly demonstrates how your Orange 45 hero is a total traitor, so you disparage them. Fact.
4
It's really not that difficult to track.
The Republican party is mostly white men, attempting to secure as much wealth and power as possible for a very very very very very tiny sliver of the American populace.
There is no way to win an election on truth if your truth is "Hey, so yeah, we really just want to help the super rich and that's really all we're going to do".
So... how do you win elections when that is your platform? Easy!
1) Whites with no college degrees are the top demographic- education is not a priority, in fact, the dumber the populace the better.
2) Fringe issues are the best way to FORCE voters to pick their side. Gay rights, LGBTQ rights, voter supression tactics, kneeling during an anthem, gun rights, respecting law enforcement, shariah law, illegal immigrants killing people, etc... etc... etc...
3) Cheat! I mean voter supression isn't cheating right? We gotta be careful with those 6 million illegals running around votin' Hillary!
4) Bash everything the other side does. It doesn't matter if it's rooted in fact, if we create slogans and talking points, regardless of their validity our voters can latch onto these lies and reinforce their own cognitive dissonance despite their own best interests (i.e. healthcare, climate change, epa regulations).
As soon as the country can actually see the Republican party (at least Federally) has zero concerns with the health and security of the average American, maybe we can start to fix things...
81
Not gonna happen. Sorry. Truly.
1
First, great reporting by Caitlin Dickerson.
Second, I'm sadly not surprised. Not to say that everyone who lives in a rural area is like this, as my family growing up lived in several rural and semi-rural areas and most people were good, kind, and understanding. But there is a small amount of people who typically live in rural areas that are mired in fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the "big city," and fear of people who they've never encountered before who may be non-white, of differing faiths, or who did not grow up in small-town America. If you've never left your small, white, christian, conservative enclave, your imagination can run wild with unknowns.
What makes me sad is that instead of having an open mind or trying to educate themselves about things they don't understand, they fall immediately into tribal behavior. With the advent of the internet, there is no excuse anymore to be uneducated about anything. Even if you've never ventured beyond your small town, read and learn about other people and cultures.
355
"With the advent of the internet, there is no excuse anymore to be uneducated about anything."
When it comes to learning about current events, the internet is an even less reliable source than print or broadcast media. Most of us only take from online sources what reinforces the opinions we already have. All of us are all too ready to disregard the rest as biased or false. We use news sources only to fill in the details, not shape our basic attitudes or beliefs.
Bigotry is acquired early in life and next to impossible to reverse in maturity. Changing a situation of people being "uneducated" requires teaching children to think for themselves, especially with a heavy emphasis on the humanities from the lower grades and right on through high school.
1
Oh for heaven’s sake, Sara from Seattle... your comments about people in rural areas being basically small minded, ignorant and subject to all sorts of hocus-pocus are simply unreasonable and ridiculous. Please quit painting people with such a broad brush. How do you feel about opinions that people from Seattle are tree-hugging snobs who have created a city that has gotten too big for its britches? Not amused? Me, neither. What happened in Twin Falls was horrible, but why can’t we focus on the proliferation of the Russian-backed fake news, along with Breitbart, that promoted and exacerbated this whole mess?
That's what gets me -- that the Internet /should/ /have/ made us smarter. It seems to be heading the opposite direction.
1
This story spends too much time bending over backwards to legitimize people who don't warrant that treatment. This is nativist America rearing its ugly head, as it has since the days of our founders. It would be more effective if the reporter had spent more time analyzing the failure of republicans to step forward, stand by their convictions, and lay the matter to rest. That mirrors what is happening in our country now as republicans fail to stand up to Trump and only perpetuate his follies. This is the first step in eradicating that nativist ugliness from our country.
25
The people of Twin Falls believe
Lies that some idiots weave;
This being the case
They will not give place
To thoughts that don’t fit their pet peeve.
16
The marriage between ignorance and the Internet is creating a perfect storm of stupidity. This article should be required reading for all Americans. Values have been replaced by the desire for "ratings" (even right inside the Oval Office) and the gullible members of the public have become bigoted conspiracy theorists on par with Alex Jones. God help us.
44
Don't forget Lack-of-Reality TV as a contributing factor in generating that storm front of stupid.
5
Don't forget Fox News and Corporate Welfare Talk Radio. If Russian Operatives founded a corporation could they invoke Citizen's United? The Republican Party and their corporate backers have created this army of stupids now that we are no longer competing with the USSR.
2
As I was reading this, I was hoping that not another word from the braying Stranahan would ever be published. How silly of me as he is invited to the White House by this xenophobic administration with airtime funded by the Russians, another political arm of this administration.
42
The whole thread runs through Bannon, Mercer Breitbart, Russia, Wikileaks, Infowars and Kushner/Trump. They are all in this together
37
I wish the writer had delved a bit more into the feelings of Twin Falls' Mormon community. This is a religion that suffered greatly at the hands of nativists in the mid-19th century. It responded with a westward migration and violence and vigilantism of its own: The Mormans and the U.S. government nearly erupted in a Civil War in 1857. How did the Twin Falls Mormons react to the fake news of 2016?
12
Well think of how many lives and homes (both Mormon and Gentile) were destroyed because of Joseph Smith's revelation (D and C 132) on plural marriage, which (seems to me) was a convenient validation of his serial infidelities.
4
And Trump voters call Democrats "haters". Wow.
24
Great, well documented piece. But doubt any on the right will ever take the time to read it and challenge their confirmed view. Why should they, when the most irresponsible and unqualified right-wing "journalist" in the story has to interrupt a NY Times interview because he's stepping into a White House briefing. Alice, make room behind that looking glass.
26
I wonder if any of our Urban Millennials have any idea that there really exists towns like Twin Falls in rural America.
2
This right-wing delirium, like so many other incidents of white panic, shows that much of America's white "Christian" population is not merely cravenly fatuous, but also contentedly immoral.
Americans have become a weak little people.
24
Who'd have thought that Vladimir Putin and our own nation's right wing could share the goal of turning Americans against one another, working in concert to drive us apart.
These are strange times, indeed.
33
The bottom line is there is too much ignorance and intolerance for and about others.
10
where were the supposedly christian churches and pastors?
37
The only constant is change.
Globalism isn't going away. Neither are dark-skinned, Mohammed-worshiping "others". The people of Twin Falls and their sympathizers are raging against a (big business) machine.
7
Please have Harris Mizhari's photos adorn more NYT articles. You just don't see slightly-off-kilter portraits of people like that in the Times every day. I love them.
16
Last winter, a North Carolina man entered a local pizza place here with two guns and discharged one. He was convinced a child sex ring was being run out of the restaurant's basement. My children and I are regular patrons; my son and I had been there playing ping pong the day before. Fake news HORRORS.
36
Very nicely written article. Fascinating, hair raising, and frustrating. How can discourse change opinion? As a side note, I greatly appreciate the requirement for commenters to identify themselves. To not do so is a repugnant form of cowardice.
12
"fact-mongering mainstream." Thank you so much for that; wonderful.
23
This story should be a Coen Brothers flick. I'm sure that this would be up there with Fargo and Oh brother where art thou, Raising Arizona et al. I can hardly wait
13
Great Comment!
1
Where is the Mormon Church in all of this?
Where are the bishops and community leaders?
I thought so. Pharisees and tax collectors indeed.
20
I have to admire Mayor Shawn Barigar for his perseverance through this absurdity. But there's something that troubles me. Why did so many residents of Twin Falls prefer outsiders like Breitbart and Fox News to their local sources of information and their own public officials?
28
Well, because they really like to get their dander up about Islam, and the facts that those outlets and officials were providing were insufficiently salacious, so they needed some better ones, of course.
5
Because Brett art and fox say the things they want to hear. Local sources were trying to give them facts.
2
Brietbart, Jones, all rely on an emotional response rather than seasoned reasoning. Otherwise, they would not get heard or published, and the mainstream fact-mongers would get all the advertising revenue. It comes down to money and manipulation to earn that money, just like about everything else in life. The alternative facts folks don't have facts, so they become 'entertainers' posing as valid entities, and for folks who don't get out much, don't know much beyond their own very limited experience, the appeal to the fears and emotions is much like going to an old time revival. Elmer Gantry lives, right out there with Elvis.
4
I have a new approach: the second someone spouts a conspiracy theory or a non-fact based idea I cut off the conversation and I have nothing to do with them at all. These people are a cancer to society and there is no cure. They are a waste of time and energy. If we focus instead on all the people who are independents or who didn't vote in the last election we will be better off at bringing this country forward. In another generation these people will lose all power, mostly because they have given in to fear, with the encouragement of the Republican Party. I will have nothing to do with them.
15
The death of robust, locally owned, independent journalism appears likely to spell the end of democracy in America.
15
I'm thinking of the Muslims of the Twin Falls area, and beyond, who must already be very, very well aware of the events in this story. Imagine approaching every non-Muslim neighbor and not knowing whether or not they subscribe to this hateful, fearful rhetoric. Imagine having to worry about when it will be that your child runs into another child or adult who believes this rhetoric. And imagine fearing for your family, knowing that judges, city councilmen, and journalists have all been threatened with criminal acts. This must have the effect of terrorizing the Muslim population.
11
I don't have the words to express how profoundly this story saddens me. How did we become like this? Does the internet exacerbate ignorance or have there always been these pockets of hatred and insularity and we are hearing about them more ? The willingness to believe the worst about those we see as " the other" combined with willful ignorance does not bode well for our future. God help the United States.
257
Bigoted nitwits have always been around but they used to be dismissed by the great majority of Americans who knew better. Today, unfortunately, they find communities of their lowbrow kindred on the internet and have enjoyed validation by conservative political interests, namely the GOP, seeking to exploit their votes. As a result, they are emboldened, more vocal and visible.
As obnoxious as they are, I think it will ultimately prove to be a good thing. In a public forum, their ideas can't survive the light of day and they will be exposed as what they are.
7
Thank you, Maggie!
You expressed exactly how I feel. Some media groups and people are bent upon arousing anger toward anyone whom they view as different.
We are all human beings. On a fragile planet. One family. To tear each other apart serves no good purpose.
My heart breaks so often these days. All I can do I is hold the suffering in my heart, hoping that somehow this solidarity has some transcendent meaning, is somehow beneficial on a cosmic level.
It is so painful to be old in a world that seems on the verge of imploding on the one hand and exploding on the other. I just want to weep.
God help us all!
5
Nice comment by the author about Lee Stranahan, the former investigative "reporter" at Breitbart as having struck him as passionate about his stories; not about their veracity but about the freedom he and the critics of refugee resettlement should have to speculate as they wanted without being belittled by the fact-mongering mainstream.
The fact-mongering mainstream. Yes, they are real pests, what with their pesky attention to getting the story right before reporting it. Stranaham quit Breitbart so he could work for Sputnik, a Kremlin-funded news outlet. Interesting that the Russians setup fake Facebook accounts to spread some of the false Twin Falls stories and to spark a demonstration. They are infiltrating and corrupting the minds of people who are ill-equipped to know better, but should nonetheless.
This all seems driven by the same thing that has driven countless other people to drum up opposition to minority groups, especially those who look different and talk funny or have different religious beliefs: fear of the other. This must be some primal animal instinct for self-preservation.
You would think that most of us, having now had the benefit of centuries of cultural enlightenment, been educated at least through high school, and have lived in multi-cultural America and had a chance to at least see how it is not really some horror that must be stopped, that we would now know better than to act like an ignorant frightened animal. One would think.
18
It's so sad to see mentally ill people freaked out and suffering, and causing others to suffer. The poor mayor and his wife--what a miserable consequence of public service! No wonder it's hard to get reasonable people to run for office.
I hope someone is working on understanding the origins of paranoid delusions like Mr. Stranahan's, and on effective therapies to help people overcome them--not only for their sake, but for the safety and peace of their communities. You shouldn't have to be a John Nash to get good medical care in this country.
7
The State of idaho needs to become an open society. In an open society, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth matters more than other factor when it comes to the pursuit of justice and the public interest.
If a person is old enough to be charged in a court of criminal law, then they're old enough to be named and publicly identified. Moreover, reporters should be allowed to sit in court and record the alleged facts, and the names of all involved. Only the names of the alleged victims should be supressed, and even then only in the most exceptional circumstances, following a court order and after hearing arguments submitted to the court by the media.
One criminal law in every criminal jurisdiction for all, alleged victims and suspects alike, no matter what our age, biological sex, chosen gender, religion, intellectual or physical disability, or any other factor.
1
Children are not charged with crimes in juvenile court. The juvenile court process is civil. The goal is rehabilitation.
5
I'd be curious to learn more about the people making the actual threats to the local government officials, business leaders and press. Was it Russians, GOP enthusiasts, or actual people connected to GOP and Trump? And I also wonder at what point will the Republicans receiving these threats against themselves and their families realize this is what their GOP vote has been supporting.
11
Parochialism and provincialism knows no boundaries.
It exists everywhere throughout our nation, in every state, county and township.
This is not an Idaho problem it is an American problem.
Terrible things happen all over this country that are buried deep in the hearts of communities and are occasionally exposed, to the shock of many.
Why are we always so surprised when it does happen? This is who we are.
11
This is a heartbreaking story. It is very frightening how these people perceive children as evil. It is unclear how far the sex acts/exploration progressed. I can understand the distress of the victim's parent since the event was recorded (the article does not say it was distributed). Punishing young children will not make this better.
It appears there was a lot of overreaction due to the fake news. The purveyors of fake news should be charged with some offense since violence could have resulted.
It also sounds like the whole town needs therapy. I would be afraid to raise children there.
7
This story is just astounding in its nature. The police, mayor & local officials let the local radical conservatives hijack the story and turn it into a story about evil immigrants when they should have kept focused on the issue that these are CHILDREN. Also, this is normal behavior for children. All children are sexually curious. The cop is right -- somewhat. Of course, we all know by now that the younger a child is that is acting out sexually, there is a chance that they've been molested. But that's not always the case. Sometimes, they are just curious about how their bodies work. They should have kept the focus on this all the time, instead of letting these frightful people take over their town and their lives. And now, some of these children have records. And one has been labeled a victim. Which will impact how she sees herself for the rest of her life. The real children in this story are the fear-mongerers who took control over this incident. The guy from Breitbart and the company should have been sued. Back in the day, before every hack with a computer fancied themselves a journalist, they would have been. This is just sad and terrible. Because the children in this case, who were probably not doing anything wrong - except for the boy with the phone are forever changed into someone they weren't meant to be. Also, every immigrant in the town is now a suspect in someone's eyes. And the radical "grownups" get to go on ruining lives. Again, the system fails.
10
I left Idaho 13 years ago and have not once regretted it.
15
I am not scared of terrorists. But I do who scares me. The mob is taking over.
6
I've followed this story as I grew up in Twin Falls and my parents still live there. My parents have friends who repeatedly tell them how unsafe their neighborhood is as it is quite a diverse neighborhood to which they constantly say untrue. They have lived there for over 40 years and it's never been nicer than it is now. I would like to see coverage given to more of the citizens who are in favor of the resettlement program and change the narrative. Obviously these conspiracy theorists need to be covered because they are dangerous but I think giving more coverage to people who are in favor of these programs would help change things.
15
Thank you for brining local insight.
1
I agree, more stories of good people in rural communities are out there. Of course, with our current leadership, this is not what we seem to be focusing on. Let Trump's tweets speak for themselves, and let the voices of decent people be heard instead.
3
Virgil described rumor as the "swiftest of evils." I remember reading that line many years ago, imagining what it must have been like to get news during Imperial Rome, and thinking how great it was that news was no longer subject to one of the Furies.
Now it seems that the Internet has revived Rumor and shown how damaging misinformation can be. It's incredible to think that this story took years to report correctly while it takes only a fraction of a minute to share a fake news article. Fed by fear and prejudice, misinformation has truly revealed itself as the Fury it is. As a people who care about the power of truth to shape our future, we need to become serious about the spread of Fake news and the rejuvenation of such a calamity of Rumor.
I also want to applaud Caitlin Dickerson for a thoroughly engrossing and well-researched story. This is spectacular journalism and every citizen of the United States should read it to understand how we arrived at the doorways of Rumor.
10
Thank you Ms Dickerson for your work on this story. Much appreciated.
Its terrible to see the out of control spin and disruption to the lives of bystanders.
7
Excellent reporting. We need a LOT more like this.
I live in eastern Idaho, several hundred miles from Twin Falls, yet not so far away from similar people. It's true that because Idaho is a "reliable red state," a place where most voters will vote, sheep-like, for anyone with an (R) by their name, it's not only easy for some very, very stupid people to get elected, it's hard for any sensible politician to keep from getting pushed farther and farther into the extreme right-wing craziness that erupted in Twin.
Some readers will wonder how much of this is because the majority in southern and eastern Idaho are LDS (Mormons). It's true that Mormons are raised to be extremely obedient to the opinions of their elders. To be Mormon in ID is to be reliably conservative, largely gun-owning, gay-hating, skeptical and even shunning of outsiders, science, and large areas of education.
But many Mormons in Idaho also remember when this state turned on them to gain statehood (see 1882 Edmunds Act, a federal law, and the infamous Test Oath of 1884, in Idaho). Idaho denied Mormons the right to vote, serve on juries, and more.
The state repealed the Test Oath in the 1890s, but it was not until the 1990s that we formally changed our constitution to remove the anti-Mormon language that allowed it.
Many Idahoans do know, then, how easily politics can turn into religious persecution. Lately, I think this is all that saves us from doing it again.
8
There have been many calls to hold outlets such as Breitbart accountable for espousing shady news, but we need to keep our heads. In our crusade/jihad (see what I did there) for truth, we should not forsake a critical aspect of democracy for speaking ones mind without being jailed for it. It’s something we won’t miss until it’s gone. Actually, if any people from that era were still alive, you could ask Union citizens from Lincoln’s era. He signed into law a document that prohibited free speech during the war. While the circumstances are different now, it is no less dangerous for America. Instead, conspiracy thrives on a lack of information and a glut of information. The media needs to balance all the facts of something with educated speculation. Many reputable news outlets are already doing this or have changed to do this better, yet they lack presence on social media due to bubbles, which are a choice in a way.
We have libel/slander laws. Unfortunately, to keep up with all the fake news being published, we would need more lawyers than exist in the country to get satisfaction in court.
"He shuffles when he walks because of neuropathic foot pain from diabetes, which he regulates by eating a ketogenic diet, usually one meal a day, consisting entirely of protein and fat. In Twin Falls, he subsisted most days on blackened chicken from Popeyes."
From a publication that regularly complained about coverage of HRC's weight and body habitus, I find the above passage disturbing.
5
What I find disturbing is that someone has the nerve to posit a completely nonsensical false equivalency, ridiculously comparing a report of accurate information about a Breitbart "reporter's" medical diagnosis of diabetes, and a report of accurate information about said "reporter's" nutritional approach to managing the symptoms of the medical diagnosis - with preposterous fake news "coverage", primarily ginned up and regurgitated by Breitbart, of a specious and concocted list of ailments that Secretary Clinton did NOT suffer from ("Parkinson's Disease", "Brain Injury", "Seizures", "Lupus", etc etc etc), along with the usual baseless sexist slurs and insults customarily directed to females who are no longer twentyish and nubile ("cankles", "massive weight gain of 100+ lbs", etc etc etc).
And it is precisely the lack of ability to do critical thinking that allows such a ludicrous "comparison", based solely in false equivalency, to get posted to this message board.
10
Good for you, goatini.
1
This is too scary and a great story exposing how the convergence of the Russian interference and right-wing fake news sites created hysteria. One of the other commenters here who mentioned witch hunts hit the nail on the head. The cynicism and opportunism of Drudge and Breitbart knowingly (they had to know their "facts" were largely false) propagating this fake stuff and manipulating their readers to further their political ends is so disheartening. Thanks goodness Chobani was able to get some satisfaction from Alex Jones. Individuals don't have the resources to fight this nonsense and their lives are turned upside down.
9
I find Stranahan's conversion to be a compelling story itself. Is there a difference between conversion to this Breitbart political worldview and a conversion to a fundamentalist religious worldview? They are both based in fear and believe that they alone possess Truth.
4
I believe the difference between them is a religious conversion is more likely based on a true belief in the dogma (and yes typically fear and and belief that religion adheres to the highest "real" truth), while Stranahan's conversion appears more likely based on adherence to the beliefs of those who will pay him the most.
2
I've always been baffled about how Donald Trump got elected. I've never understood how people could watch him on television, and then go out and actually vote for him, in overwhelming numbers in some areas. I've always assumed that anyone who voted for him must live in a bubble, impervious to reality. Among the Republicans I know who voted for Trump, the explanation I heard almost exclusively was a halfhearted: "At least he isn't Hillary." Reading this article helped me to understand the 2016 election a little better.
I read the Times & the WPost every day. I watch CNN. I follow David Frum and Paul Krugman on Twitter. I don't know anyone who watches FOX News or reads Breitbart. I now realize that I am the one actually living in a bubble. It may be an urban, Northeastern, coastal, REALITY based bubble, but it is a bubble nonetheless. If people are actually forming their opinions based on the reporting done by a guy like Lee Stranahan, we're finished as a country. Up until now, my biggest concerns was that Trump would succeed in destroying what is regarded as the "truth". It's already happened, thanks to Breitbart, FOX News, Facebook, and the rest of social media. Trump is not the perpetrator of "Fake News", he is the logical result.
Like the editor of The Times-News laments, "We write a story and it’s going to reach 50,000 people. Breitbart writes a story and it’s going to reach 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 million people. What kind of a voice do we have in this debate?”
8
I am sad to read this. I grew up in Boise and visited relatives in Twin Falls all the time. I am not a farmer, but my mother was and so was my husband. Farmers tend to think globally because so many markets are overseas.
This is not the Twin Falls I knew. The people were kind, hard-working, generous, and willing to help out. They welcomed the stranger into their land.
When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you,
and you shall love him as yourself; for you were aliens in the land of
Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
I am sad.
5
Article presents a narrative that would form a basis of a good script, on par with the 1962 film adpatation of the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Adding the Pizzagate affair (D.C.) into a subplot would ensure an academy award. I would make the actor playing Lee Stranahan he point-of-view protagonist. His story would included transformation from right-left-right politics and his role as a news facilitator would provide the conflict that arises when the narrative exposes conspiracies on the right against refugees and Muslims - a topical underlying story that, like the 1960s human rights issues, best illustrate recent American minority concerns that found safe habors in Fake News propagated by extremist news media.
2
Always nice to see Idaho make the national news. Sigh.
Nice reporting job. Sadly, this sort of thinking isn't limited to Twin Falls. I live in another small town where there is a mosque nearby and a Muslim cemetery, and for that people accuse my town of being a Muslim "enclave." Every time someone proposes an apartment building, a bunch of people claim that it's going to be full of Syrians and so on. It's really sad.
6
The people wanting more immigration always point out how big and empty the US is, as if we should take in everyone, as long as they go live in Idaho, Wyoming, etc.
More like Twin Peaks.
2
The scariest thing about human beings is how quickly some are prone to let hate-anger-fear-violence-Lies,Lies,Lies-WAR - take over and destroy. Does other homo sapien species attack their own for no good reason? I don't think so.
This is something human beings simply must overcome to stop the constant destruction of people and civilizations. I believe with all my heart that socially conscious women and men stepping up to form true democratic governments (with highly regulated capitalism) can change the male model of pillage-rape-plunder that drives much of the world now.
Let's all hope my beliefs materialize NOW before it's too late.
8
As the article states, the wrong wing doesn’t like facts and figures when thinking about something. Best to rely upon fear and hate exclusively.
55
This is great journalism.
I have one nit to pick. Not really a nit, however, since it pertains to the very title of the piece: I was expecting to read a story about a small town. Twin Falls, Idaho is anything but a small town. It has 48,260 people living in it, and is the county seat of Twin Falls County. I grew up in a small town, and have visited Twin Falls, which is 25 times larger than my small town, 20 times larger than the county seat, and several times larger than any actual small town or small city within a 30 mile radius of where I grew up. In my book, Twin Falls could be called a large town or a small city, and possibly verging on a medium-sized city. Get it right.
35
In New York, 48260 people isn't even a town, it's a neighborhood.
(posted in jest)
4
These anti-Muslim activists are using the same scare tactics used to justify the lynching of Blacks.
56
Absolutely. I was thinking that exact same thing.
2
Right.
Right-wing concern for rape victims varies directly with how much hate they have for the person doing the assaulting.
Black man -lynch him.
Muslim man- throw him in jail and ban all immigration.
Mexican man- they're all rapists; build a wall
Transgender person- literally no evidence that a transgender man has ever or would ever use a bathroom to assault women and girls, but let's pass a law to "protect our innocent wives and daughters" from being groped.
White boys on college campuses- she was drunk too, what was she wearing, what about his due process rights!??! He can't even enjoy steak anymore. Sniff sniff.
Donald Trump- literally admits to grabbing women by the p*ssy; admission is written off as locker room talk. (Again, remember that Republicans think it's very very important to Protect Our Girls (tm) from transgenders who might grope them, right?)
9
This is exactly how witch hunts have been conducted since the Middle Ages. Small people, small fearful minds and total ignorance of actual facts. To say this was pathetic and awful is to be kind and to give authorities and the population a pass on the humane, "Christian" behavior they love to brag about for themselves. Shameless.
154
The isolation, ignorance and close-mindedness of small towns breeds the poisonous politics of hatred. Don't blame Facebook or Russians. Blame small-town and rural Americans who know nothing, learn nothing and are proud of it. The internet gives them access to all knowledge in the world. Instead they pick and choose only what appeals to their bigotry. And Mormons badmouthing Islam as a cult? Isn't it the case of a pot calling a kettle black?
94
You can say the exact same thing about segments of the population in any town or city in the country. An unfortunate consequence of the computer age is isolation from the broader community. More and more people are living in echo chambers they craft themselves and are assisted in that endeavor by tech company algorithms that feed you more of the same to keep you clicking. Other than purposefully turning your devices off and engaging with all citizens in your community and intentionally seeking out online interactions with others who hold different opinions along with websites posting opposing viewpoints, I don't know how we combat this phenomenon. I do know that we must try something to combat it because the direction we are headed is big trouble.
95
I don't find any of this surprising. Many years ago I had to go to Twin Falls on business having never been there before. After checking into my motel I headed for a local diner. I sat down and waited for a very long time for the waitress to wait on me. Finally she came over and asked me what I wanted and I told her something to eat. She glared back at me and said "You're not from around here. We only serve locals." The rest of my three day stay was met with both open and subtle hostility and no I am not a man of color or Muslim. I can only imagine being an immigrant and being resettled in a town like Twin Falls, welcome to America.
74
I would love to know how long ago this happened to you. Was this the 1980's? 1990's? Anyway, I appreciate your sharing this experience with us and I am sorry you had to go through this.
1
wow, that surprises me. In a lot of ways, Twin Falls is normally pretty welcoming.
1
I am a bit amazed at people who buy into these crazy conspiracy theories yet don't believe they are racist or ignorant....
37
These gullible fools brought us Donald Trump. Gullibility is the root if this nation’s fear and division - gullibility to foreign meddling, to the Breitbart Murdoch Fakes News industry, and to the Mercer Koch Tea Party lies that Republicans care about anyone besides the 1%.
57
" Gullibility is the root if this nation’s fear and division"
***Wilfull*** gullibility. You don't get this alienated from reality by accident.
3
The fruit of reagan's orchard is as bitter as ever.
When will people finally see that the "conservative" (GOP) movement is a degenerate unAmerican thing that preys on all the worst aspects of being human? That used to be what we as Americans stood against and held others to account for. Is not that exactly what the Soviets were doing in so many countries?
35
It is very important to acknowledge that this IS, indeed, the poison fruit of Reagan's tainted orchard. I warned many in 1976 and 1980 that this was the endgame of Reagan and his handlers.
6
My reaction to what's happened and is happening to an America which I once thought basically rational and pragmatic: Thank God I'm old.
29
At one time, presidents tried to bring us together. Now, "45" is dependent on this kind of idiocy so of course he tries to foment it. He has had great success. Americans are so poorly-educated.
42
The word I seem to use most in this new 45 era, is appalling. It's appalling that Bannon had a seat at the White House table; appalling that it is acceptable to conflate rumor mongering/incitement and reporting; and appalling that people are willing to believe every anti Muslim trope without likely ever having met a Muslim or read about Islam.
420
Yes, news stories should have a standard of truth, factual truth. And before cable, TV news was objective. The problem there is outlets professing news are in fact “entertainment” cloaked as news. The Canadian standard sounds good, wonder if in practice, it’s been successful. What protects American reporting is the Supreme Court “shouting fire in a crowded theater” and I believe Brietbart and Alex Jones need to be held up to that standard. Dark Money first funded these efforts - to get their messages across. But they opened Pandora’s Box, and I suspect even they never anticipated how horrific this would become - once you unleash hate and fear. And worse, it let the Russians in.
How do we get back to the true “good ol’ days” of standards of media coverage that were respected and trustworthy? I believe we need some important litigation up to the Supreme Court and dare I ask, for strong backbones of our politicians who can stand up to the Dark Money donors recognizing the “clear & present danger” in front of us all now. But I fear they are short-sighted and sadly, hijacked by this Dark Money.
I do not believe this Russian infusion of news-designed-to-divide-us, Dark Money and Trump are survivable acts. The only question that remains is what will we look like in five years - not our Grandparents’ United States of America, that’s for sure. Sad.
1
This story isn't a shock since the entertainment aspect of right wing news media is well known. details and facts are irrelevant to the story and the entertainment value through fear mongering and feeding resentment is all that matters
22
The headline is a good summary. Had disreputable online organizations like Breitbart and the neo-Nazi fringe groups not spread this across the Internet, it would have been a small-town rumor that would have died with presentation of the facts. It's important to note that the local paper -- as well as the NYT -- reported and analyzed with integrity. They are also subject to libel laws. That's not the only reason they act with integrity, but it is a distinction that we need to pay attention to.
The mayor and city council members had no recourse when their contact information was disseminated along with the lies. Why aren't Beitbart and their ilk more subject to libel laws? Why hasn't Stranahan been sued into penury?
And last, this paragraph needs to be expanded into another article (maybe it's in the works):"Later, it turned out that fake Facebook accounts linked to the Russian government helped to spread stories about Twin Falls and even organized one of the rallies there. The event was also poorly attended but is the first known Russian attempt to spark a demonstration on American soil."
Maybe it's time we up the emotional language a bit: This is a case of Russian spying and espionage, as well as treasonous behavior on the part of those disseminating slander and libel.
49
Yup I am staying in NYC after I retire. No small town, no Florida, no Arizona. The rest of the country scares me. People always talk about the dangerous city and bad things can happen to you when you go there. Think again.
83
I wish more people would sue Breitbart and Alex Jones/InfoWars and hold them accountable for the lies they spew. How many people have been hurt by their propaganda?
Not that successful lawsuits would convince the devout followers of anything. More likely, it would just reinforce their belief that "the Globalists" or Illuminati, or whatever tin foil hat villain is attempting to rule the world, is trying to hush up these bastions of truth.
31
Steve Bannon boasts of being a "street fighter". Would that he might meet up with some of the true Irish street fighters of Dublin, Belfast or New York, who unlike smooth faced blue eyed Bannon, carry the physcical marks of their courageous struggle on their bodies.
Tom McMahon
3
Freedom of the press should not protect proven liars. They should be stripped of their press credentials and brought to court if it can be proven they have deliberately and knowingly lied and caused harm to others by lying. They should never be granted the protection due to real journalists again.
44
I hope Americans who visit or move to foreign countries aren't treated as badly as small-minded people treat our foreigners.
Many incoming people are victims of crimes in their country, only to find Americans are not much different.
Does America stand for anything anymore?
35
I live 75 miles north of Twin Falls. The culture of the religious right here is pervasive, and fear of the" other."
. A horrific rape was inflicted on mentally disabled boy by several white athletes where he was savagely injured. The news coverage was adequate but sparse. No marching in the streets . That little farming town is only 45 miles north of Twin Falls. Where was the outrage then?
95
Indeed. You are right, where was the outrage? There was some local and national anger, but comparitively, what a sickening double standard. I live in TF. You forgot to mention the victim was black. The main perp, a white high school football player, was a troubled kid from Texas.
6
The people of Twin Falls are looking under the wrong rock. Shariah law does not presently and may never threaten America in any way, but the Russian-orchestrated protest against non-white, non-christian people in Twin Falls most certainly does. This is what they should be outraged by. Why they aren't they?
I would love to hear Ms. Dickerson's thoughts on that topic, because I am totally confused by our country's sudden indifference to, or even embrace of being manipulated by Russia, including Stranahan, a lunitic with a Russian sponsored radio program and a White House press pass. And a president who idolizes KGB president Putin.
52
Why isn't what Breitbart, and what these folks with their twitter accounts are writing libel or slander? Why isn't it hate speech? We do have laws on the books to deal with defamation of character, harassment, and threatening behavior. Why aren't these people being prosecuted?
23
Look to your leaders.
1
Too hard, costly and time consuming. Plus, with Sessions in charge of justice, not a snowball's chance in heck of bringing charges.
Why does the caption for the photo of Stranahan identify him as an an investigative reporter? A writer, sure, but a writer of fiction, not facts or analysis based on rationale investigation.
54
The local dynamic of what happened in Idaho is what's known as a town bug tussle or kerfuffle. What's new is the use that Breitbart and other fake news make of these village crises to mold them into a national narrative and to test their ability to wield leadership power to create aktions. We need another outfit like the SPLC or them supported by crowd funding to represent victims like that town mayor and sue the sites that post their personal information and incite cyber bullying.
13
My favorite line in this article is "fact-mongering mainstream". Reading the other comments here: (paraphrasing) "So what? How does this affect me?" and "Why is this fake news? Because no knife and not Syrian refugees?" It affects us all because the US has now become the unthinking kind of society that can elect Donald Trump as president. It's fake news because the incident was really about 3 children aged 5, 7, and 10 and there was no cover up. They are children and they did something stupid. It used to be called "playing doctor". Just because the two boys were refugees it was turned into an "example" by people who wanted to manipulate the masses.
Kudos to the Twin Falls paper for trying to put things in perspective.
35
Someone below mentions fear - and nobody knew better how to tap into that fear than Rod Serling -
"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" is episode 22 in the first season of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The episode was written by Rod Serling, the creator-narrator of the series. It originally aired on March 4, 1960 on CBS.
Maple Street is full of children playing and adults talking when a shadow passes over, accompanied by a roar and a flash of light.
The residents soon discover that their power went off, affecting stoves, lawn mowers, cars and phones. They gather in the street to discuss the situation.
Pete Van Horn volunteers to walk over to Floral Street, the next street over, to see if it is affected as well. His neighbor, Steve Brand decides to go into town, but Tommy, a local boy, urges him not to leave the street. Tommy has read a story of an alien invasion causing similar controversy, and says that the monsters do not want anyone to leave the street.
Furthermore, in the story, the aliens are living as a family that appears to be human. The power outage is meant to isolate the neighborhood.
Another resident, Les, tries unsuccessfully to start his car. He gets out and begins to walk back to the other residents when the car starts on its own. This bizarre behavior makes the neighbors suspect that Les may be an alien, as suggested by Tommy's (Fake News) story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monsters_Are_Due_on_Maple_Street
13
The politically correct suppression of news, like the astonishing New Year’s Eve attacks on German women by Muslim men, by the German police and press - fuels the search outside the mainstream for unexpurgated news by those treated with scorn in this article and these comments.
“Mobs of men, many of them asylum seekers from the Middle East, pick-pocketed and groped more than a thousand women in and around a train station. The German police acknowledged the incident had taken place only under pressure, as the women’s stories began to leak out through the media.”
And “groped” is a PC understatement.
7
I would like to point out that the paragraph you quoted explains how this story was brought to light by the mainstream news media not despite it. Women in Germany talked to reporters about their stories which showed that the German police were burying the incident. Real journalism shed the light on the Cologne police and forced the truth. Drudge and Breitbart took a rumor and presented it multiple times as case fact with no journalistic integrity because they are not real news organizations. This seeking outside sources for non-mainstream news is fine but it's called following local and state news which mostly get little to no attention at the national level. Breitbart, Drudge and the rest fabricate and lie to everyone to foment outrage and then use that outrage to fuel right wing political ends "buy gold, elect conservatives" etc.
6
Where is this "quote" from?
The entire point of this article is that unsubstantiated "facts", like your quote, create hatred and fear.
A "thousand women"? Who said this?
1
Fake news has real consequences.
9
Right wing hooey and insanity taking over clearly isolated people who consume "Fox News", "Breitbart", and other FAKE news and entertainment sights. Trump got elected by insane and frightened Americans. Now all Americans can be very afraid.
7
This headline is wrong. It should be, "How runaway fears of Muslim immigrants were enflamed by xenophobia and ignorant, small-town gossip."
The problem isn't with fake news for adding heat, it's because of thw tinder which was already keen to be set aflame. This tinder is the bias and fear in the hearts of us all. it waits until the social and financial conditions are right.
202
@AW, didn't the article describe how forces outside of Idaho worked to inflame the populace?
2
Spot on!
1
The other thing that is touched on but not fully explored in the article is a foreign adversary taking advantage of the xenophobia of a small percentage of this town to try to create even bigger divisions.
This part of the article really shook me to the core:
"Later, it turned out that fake Facebook accounts linked to the Russian government helped to spread stories about Twin Falls and even organized one of the rallies there. The event was also poorly attended but is the first known Russian attempt to spark a demonstration on American soil."
We have an adversary that is so familiar with America's divisions that it is able to foment trouble from thousands of miles away. No one has a solution for this as yet because all the Russians are doing is exploiting existing divisions - without those divisions they would not be successful at their online games. I have a feeling that it will get way worse before it gets better. I wonder if people like Mr. Stranahan understand that they are helping a foreign power in its attempts to bring down the US. Probably not. He probably believes he is more patriotic than anyone else involved in this saga.
3
I still don't know what the boys did to the girl, whether it was consensual or forced, or whether the boys (or the girl) were children of refugees. Did the 14-year old owner of the cell phone encourage the boys? Was he the child of refugees, or was he a home-grown local boy?
Fake news will always fill in the spaces left empty by real news.
8
The reason you do not know the facts is that these were children. We, as a just society (at least we try to be) have decided that we must protect and educate children who are involved in what would be crimes if they were adults and not spread their problems all over the tabloids.
3
Jeff: that is stupid. We don't need their names or faces, nor to view the actual video -- but how can ANYONE evaluate this, if we have NO IDEA what happened?
Asking people to make a decision on something this troubling, with NO INFORMATION -- then screaming about "fake news" -- well HELLO HYPOCRITES. Maybe fake news thrives when we are denied truthful, accurate reporting!
1
Without that information....this story is as much fake news as anything they accuse others of propagating!
While we don't need names....or to see the actual video...we do need at least a general description of what happened. Was this innocent "playing doctor"? or real sexual abuse? Was it consensual (as much as a child can consent with ANOTHER child) or did the two boys gang up on the girl?'
Among the things lost here....even very small children today see pornography on the internet or observe their parents watching it.
Years ago -- when the internet was barely around -- I had neighbors, with not much in the way of curtains, who watched porn on their big TV. You could be walking your dog by their house, and there it was. I mean hardcore, graphic stuff. And they had young children, who you could see (no curtains) playing and running around in THE SAME ROOM as the adults who were watching hardcore porn. Now this was 20+ years ago. But today...any child, even one of 7 or 8, can use a phone or computer to watch hardcore porn. And many do. Adults are in complete denial of how the filth and corruption of the internet has affected children!
1
This is great journalism, thank you Ms. Dickerson. My God, how do we stop this madness and get Americans tethered to reality again?
21
No wonder the incident involving the children was blown out of proportion. It had all the components needed for a tantalizing piece of gossip plus it played on all the fears these residents have concerning outsiders. Twin Falls is a text book example of how the fear of strangers can run a muck when there is no strong opposing voice in the community. Diversity makes a community stronger and healthier. Twin Falls with it's 80% white, Republican and very conservative demographic appears to be a very fearful community. Sad.
14
True, but seems to go farther. The level-headed people in town seem to be cowed into submission by the notion that four or five million crazies would come down on them, menace their employers, threaten their spouses and children, blow up their life stories into something obscene and distribute it all over the Internet, etc.
Wonder how they might have gotten that idea....
2
There is a crisis of authority in the mainstream media, borne of a multi-decade abandonment of heartland America and the economic concerns and issues of working class and impoverished people.
News is a "product" crafted to serve the powerful and their business agenda. It's sometimes soothing, it's always respectful of the establishment, it's often about sowing fears in order to distract or stiffle dissent. This for-profit template requires pleasing paymasters and maintaining open and respectful relationships with the oligarchs and their politician puppets. It's about ignoring rampant corruption and illegality. It's about undermining those who seek genuine change. Our appointed journolistic gatekeepers rub shoulders in Davos and seek enlightenment at the feet of old white male CEOs.
Into this vacuum of trust, this betrayal, marched the pundits and agitators, the rabble rousers, the conspiracy minded, the hateful. They channel the econommic insecurities of ordinary Americans shafted by the system into toxic hatreds for narrow partisan gain. And now Silicon Valley has built an immeasurably more powerful platform for this propaganda.
6
I am from a small town in Idaho — not Twin Falls, but Sandpoint — a city that is generally seen as a more left-leaning "oasis" in the otherwise deep, red state. I have witnessed first-hand all of the observations made in this piece. Facebook groups as nonchalant as "Yard Sale/Buy/Sell/Trade" and public comments on every platform have become a breeding ground for Islamophobia and anti-refugee misinformation — often referencing Twin Falls and the government's "cover-up" or the "threat" of refugees. In a recent move, a group slandered the (liberal) mayor of Sandpoint by pairing his photograph with "anti-white" propaganda on posters. It's sad to me that the Internet has become a means to connect people to the rumor mill and misinformation instead of qualified, researched reporting like this. Google "Sandpoint refugees" and "Redoubt News" outranks any local, professional media.
18
If I was the owner of Chobani yogurt I would seriously think about pulling up stakes and moving to a community more welcoming.
23
I hope he doesn't! The only way to counter hysteria and fear-mongering is to let people see for themselves that there are no monsters under their beds. If the good Christian people of Idaho Falls meet good Muslim people in Idaho Falls, they'll stop panicking. (Okay, if they're not actually *practicing* Christians, they might just keep hating other people. But let's hope.)
1
Chobani, Clif and others have built in Twin Falls because they receive heavy public subsidies in return for creating a number of relatively low-paying jobs. See:
https://stateimpact.npr.org/idaho/2012/12/17/chobani-opens-twin-falls-yo...
When people are harmed by these stories the organizations that publish them either in print, through social media or on a TV station, should be sued and even if they try to retract the stories get a money judgement against them.
Bankrupting these people is the only way since we refuse to spend the money on good public education.
Oh and what a horror story. A 5 year old and a 7 year old playing house or doctor in an apartment laundry room,. We did in the bushes in the back yard and when we got caught our parents were just too embarrassed to ever say anything about it after scolding us.
16
Yes, I don't understand this: why don't slander-and-libel laws, or inciting-to-riot laws, obtain for the dreck on the internet? Can't someone sue the person or web site that published slander and false information?
3
We have met the enemy, and they is us.
11
Thank you for excellent reporting of what happened as, speaking for myself, it was just bits and pieces of information that came out previously due to the ability of the Russian propaganda machine to infiltrate and spread fear and hate right into small town America during the presidential election.
Enflaming fear, hatred, and outright lies paid off for Putin, and the danger of fake news and propaganda has not gone away and everyone should be aware of checking their facts before reacting. Known Russian propaganda networks should just be shut down, they are not Americans so they are not protected under the First Amendment. This should be part of imposed Russian sanctions. Legit Russian news media outlets, if there is such an animal under Putin, should have American watchdogs acting as fact checkers as well.
The purveyors of fake news know that if you hear the same story multiple times, you believe it as fact and not fiction or why would you hear it from so many sources? FB, Twitter, and our other social media outlets need regulation since they are more interested in building trillion dollar empires than safeguarding our democracy from foreign invaders bearing bucks.
They should not be spreading hate or fake news domestically either. If they are going to be alternate sources for posted news and political ads they should undergo the same restrictions under the communications code that the recognized news broadcast networks are required to meet under law.
5
The sane rational folks have a voice in reputable news outlets. This was a well written piece and I am glad The NY Times published it.
11
Remember when the internet was supposed to make us all smarter and more knowledgeable, by putting facts and figures at everybody's fingertips? Few predicted that it would put fake news, lunatic conspiracy theories and flat out lies on equal footing.
The anonymity provided by the web makes it possible for the most deranged theories to be invented and spread, but it's the mind-boggling credulity of so much of the public that does the damage. The consequences are severe - it's how we ended up with an ignorant, narcissistic buffon for a president - but the solution is elusive.
11
The length of this article highlights the necessary details to showcase the truth. We are currently living in a period where the majority of people are consuming information, often false, all from miniature paragraphs or 140 characters. In the past decade, the availability of broadband internet connection and personal computing has become much more affordable. More people than ever have been given a voice. This is a wonderful opportunity for democracy, but an even more dangerous opportunity for deceivers with a platform of hate and ignorance. The root of these issues can be found in our education system. Once can conceivably make it all the way through high school and in many cases, university, without ever being thought critical thinking or how to properly decipher between credible and false information.
321
For those people in conservative towns who wonder why people who live in expensive California don't move for cheaper real estate options, this article shows one big reason. Twin Falls has a low unemployment rate and inexpensive housing but you have to put up with neighbors who are easily led by fake news. Not worth it.
24
Actually, a lot of Californians have moved here -- but it's the Californians that don't fit the stereotype. It's the conservatives who are moving to Idaho and other states because California has gotten too ethnic for them, and they are making Idaho more conservative, particularly in the Panhandle.
1
Why does The Times characterize Mr. Stranahan's work in Twin Falls as "reporting"?
256
Cogently explain why you're questioning that characterization?
Cogently explain the basis of your request.
2
@Digital Penguin
Reporters convey facts. They don't make up vicious, fact-free propaganda.
7
H. L. Mencken hit the nail on the head with, “The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.” Fear addicts are easy and manipulable prey for depraved fake news outlets where a dearth of integrity and humanity provides hypocrites, phonies, and liars with corrupt means to advance immoral agendas. Stranahan, the lying libertarian erotic photographer turned liberal turned conservative turned idiot is an empty, confused, dishonest, psychologically damaged, needy, desperate, and venal fear monger in need of serious help. The cretin belongs in an institution and possibly jail.
239
The oxygen for the creature you describe come from three sources- wealth concentration, union busting and corporate mergers.
Wealth and power are the same thing, the more it accumulates the more it encourages policies that accelerate it.
Union busting is now an obsolete term, but I watched it growing up in the 1970's . After the Depression union power gave workers rights and a safe, decent standard of living. That was reversed first by industry moving to the South, then offshore.
Corporations now make their own oxygen, and they do it offshore where it is easier to enslave workers.
The arguments here belittle the common man who sees no one but these Trump inspired cretins pretending to care about them. Most of the comments here simply tell us how stupid they are. That is not the problem. folks.
5
Brilliant description!
Sometimes fear is justified. Churchill feared Germany's military build up and I fear the possibility of the loss of civil liberties, a clean environment, 100 years of progress, the emptying of the US Treasury with inane tax changes, repeating the appalling performance of Reagan and Bush II, and war with North Korea under Trump. Trump supporters don't seem to fear any of these things.
Sometimes it is the superior mind that exhibits fear and the feckless, thoughtless ignoramuses that do not.
In considering this tale of woe the influence of propaganda sites like Breitbart & their wealthy sponsors is the most instructive. For Bannon & the Mercers this is just another opportunity for mischief. For this community and all involved it's years of chaos and acrimony fueled by outside agitators with little regard for the damage they do. The internet, what a wonderful thing for feeding the worst in humanity and projecting it like a primate throwing its feces in reckless abandon.
64
Lee Stranahan leaves Breitbart to join a Russian owned fake-news factory called Sputnik, with offices across from the White House. There is no way this is merely a coincidence, right? I don't think so.
283
I wonder if Sputnik's landlord is Trump Enterprises.
I think many people have confused rumor mongering with journalism.
53
They're not confused. This nonsense has 100% malicious intent aforethought.
None find it strange that children under 10 were arrested and charged for what is normal experimenting behavior in children? A 5yo arrested and charged? Good God in Heaven Have Mercy! Perhaps it is because we have destroyed childhood that it now seems to extend from cradle to grave in America.
53
These kinds of scurrilous stories are what lead to people like the men in Southwest Kansas who wanted to bomb an entire neighborhood of Somali refugees in Garden City, Kansas. Or the man in the Kansas City suburbs who shot an Indian worker because he was too stupid to figure out he wasn't a Muslim.
Stoking the fears of people on the internet or on Faux News is dangerous. I know people in my small town who consume every Clinton story with relish. And there are people who consider Barack Obama to be dangerous, Muslim or whatever it is this week because he is black.
I have tried to engage some of these people and tell them they are ill-informed. I am met with scorn because they know "the truth." They hear it every day on the television set. It feeds into the racism already present in many people. And it feeds the fear of the "other."
One can only hope that all this leading up to the election of trump will be the last gasp of revenge of the white people.
110
Don't get your hopes up.
This is the same equation that results in fanaticism everywhere, including religious fundamentalism here in the US, which seems to be getting worse.
Holy Wars in the US suburbs!
If those who know better don't speak up & engage these zealots we really will end up in the Twilight Zone.
1
I suspect that those who really get riled up about fake news are mentally unstable and are missing something in their lives. Look at Edgar M Welch from Salisbury NC who drove from NC to Washington as he read on-line about child sex ring at a pizza parlor; it was fake.
I'm not sure who said there are crazies on both sides but more of them are Republicans then Democrats.
71
Fear and ignorance The best remedy is working to become better able to identify 'fake' news when they see it. People tend to be so full of themselves, so self-righteous, that I doubt they would bother to do it.
29
Can't wait for AMC Walking Dead spin off where the refugees hide in a Chobani factory to escape the putrified townfolk. Or the Netflix version a la Fargo, with Russians as the mobsters attempting to get their greedy hands on Chobani so Putin can directly feed LSD to American troops. All the more scary for being "based on a true story".
I wish it were funny, but it ain't, and this is where we are...
21
This is just one incident.However many Cologne like incidents have happened in Sweden at music festivals.The culprits have been identified as Afghan young refugees.This has been admitted by the mainstream Swedish media.Stop using this case to supress the truth about the problems with Midddle Eastern immigration.Beware USA.
9
I suppose you think sexual assault is never committed by white people. Oh, no, that would never happen.
I will make one observation about Europe: people from a sexually repressed culture might just feel like kids in a candy store when they get to European countries. Sure, I appreciate being able to express sexuality openly in public, both in behavior and dress, but when an individual comes from a culture where women are covered up for the sake of modesty, perhaps a little counseling about what is allowed and what is not would set the record straight for those refugees.
The "truth" is that human beings are sexual animals. It doesn't matter what color you are. All that matters is cultural limits, and it's up to you as the host country to make it clear what is acceptable and what is not.
8
Could you actually back this claim up with some facts?
3
so when it's one of your own who commits a crime, it's just a crime, nothing more, nothing less. but when a "refugee" does it, well, it's the end of civilization as we know it, isn't it? easy to demonize refugees... they are helpless victims of circumstance and are easily identifyable because they do not look like the community into which they have arrived, and religious preferences aside, are no more or less inclide to commit a crime than anyone else.
10
How do the townspeople feel about finding out they were played by the Russians? Or do they also believe that is "fake news?"
89
hard working, god fearing, self sufficent small government wholesome america, that takes government subsidies to run the farms and would never admit that russia has duped the gullable townsfolk. salem witch trials anyone?
7
They do believe it was fake news, actually. I'm on a Facebook group with some of these people, just to keep an eye on them, and they went on at some length about it.
Demcracy working is predicated on the supposition that people on the whole are not idiots. Long ago someone cynical and up to no good (and far from the first time in history) figured out that there is a sizeable, often under-educated, population out there already being fleeced by preachers, etc that are relatively easy to manipulate and can be put to use "democratically" to produce tax cuts for the wealthy, etc. Social media accelerated this along with a loss of control, and let the Russians in. And deranged idiots like Alex Jones become thought leaders for some. But the GOP is still getting their results. And a combination of stupid & proud will keep things rolling until something really bad, but up until now unimagineable, happens (war, armed uprising, genocide, whatever...).
Have a great day!
23
We have nothing to fear but the fear mongers themselves.
19
"Liberals" have brought this on themselves by weakening discipline in the schools, leading to adult idiocy. At the philosophical level, while my "liberal" colleagues were preaching "everyone has a story" in a "post-modern" attack on factual truth, I told them, "All you are doing is making the world safe for creationism." (What an understatement that turned out to be.)
Social Democracy requires hard-working, fact-disciplined citizens, and so-called "liberals" refuse to maintain the rigorous institutions necessary to create and maintain competent citizens.
5
When I was in high school, the strongest attack on the teaching of critical thinking skills was a conservative one. Our biology teacher had to devote a certain amount of time to creationism.
8
Is it too much to ask that people take responsibility for themselves and their own action
3
Where is your proof. My Dad is from Spokane and told me the people there are nice but very insulated and don't accept differences easily. Maybe that effects the schools too.
1
If not for the Mercers and those like them who underwrite sites like Breitbart for their own ends, propagandists such as Mr. Shanrahan would be written off as fringe crackpots. Treating him as if if he is a journalist is an insult to those who spend their entire adult lives trying to identify and disseminate objective truth.
57
Sadly it's Harper Valley PTA come to life lies and misinformation basically did the same to the whole of America. As for As for Lee Stranahan he is the sleaziest type of human being living off the lies he tells about the misfortune of others. It is amazing how some Americans are willing to believe anything without question they are told or read about people or places they don't know or understand.
28
Thank you, Liz for the cultural reference. You are right - at times Twin Falls actually does feel like Harper Valley! What else can be said about a small city, with a city population nearing 50,000 . . . and with civic and business leaders focusing on maintaining its "small town" atmosphere?
"no Syrians were involved: The boys were from Sudan and Iraq"
Well, that's totally different!
9
If the writers want to be taken seriously then they need to trade in factual facts. So, since everyone was decrying the arrival is Syrians (as fact) during this period, then it makes a very significant difference what is written. Don’t you agree?
9
No, Steve, that's just ignorance.
5
"Well, that's totally different!"
Uh, yes, it is.
1
Great reporting. fascinating to see how lies spread like wildfire and produced such a mess. it's a shame these small towns are targets for ppl with I'll intent. it also reaffirms that the world is spiraling out of control and it's not the refugees faults. it's people unwilling to walk outside and talk to your neighbor. I remember when new ppl moved in and you baked them a cake or cookies. so simple our former years were. lord help us all.
15
The most striking thing about this story is not the gullibility of a significant part of the public, but the consistent moral cowardice of the so-called leaders. We see the same thing in our national politics.
31
I wish I understood more of what everyone is so upset about.
For one thing, culture is constantly evolving, driven primarily by technology. Every single individual bemoaning the threatened culture change is doing so on their phone or their computer; ergo, they are themselves the engines of the movement. It isn't about religion (really just an ancient but enduring form of social manipulation.)
But speaking of religion, Catholic priests in this country and the world over include pedophiles in a disproportionate number as opposed to other demographics (i.e., plumbers, engineers, writers, roofers, lawyers). Similarly, pastors and other church leaders are notorious philanderers.
And speaking of sex crimes, drunken frat boys are notorious rapists too.
In fact, most sex crimes in America are committed by Americans. Like close to 100%. I bet right now, somewhere in America, a small white girl is being examined, possibly against her will, by a young white boy. This rhetoric is irrelevant to the real problem.
The only new issue raised by the Fawnbrook case is that it is a clear example of the ease with which the Russians exploit our stupidity. That and the boldness with which people like Stranahan, currently employed for the benefit of and with support of the Kremlin, use the term "globalism" like it's a dirty word.
28
To be fair, it's not only Americans who fall for fake news and buy into conspiracy theories. Vanity Fair has a funny-sad article about Russians freaking out over a belief that Americans are using fidget spinners to control the minds of their youth. (https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/07/fidget-spinners-russian-us-cons...
But, then again, maybe that's just fake news, and the Russians are way too sensible to think any such thing.
Was the so-called rape incident more than a"show me yours and I'll show you mine"? Who knows, now that the whole incident has been embedded in the paranoia about the others. If people would reach out to Muslims in their midst, who are already traumatized by their dislocation, perhaps we would have a chance to muddle through our changes. Muslim have a lot to unpack about their own issues, for one how to adapt to such a different culture.
This country grows a lot of wonderful people, and it unfortunately grows ignorance and bigotry as well.
15
It's time we institute curriculum in schools addressing 'fake news' and how to use critical thinking to see it. Otherwise, we will likely fail as a viable democracy.
39
Good luck with that, for as long as the radical theocratic right-wing nut jobs that have stealthily infiltrated countless school boards across the nation, starting over 40 years ago, continue to strangle and kill any efforts to teach critical thinking and mature discernment. These anti-American enemies of civil, human and Constitutional rights WANT "fake news" in the spotlight, so they can continue their assault on our nation's laws and morals.
3
Great article. I wonder if the boys had been freckle-faced,rosy cheeked American farm boys would the uproar have been so loud? I think not. We know that little boys pulling down little girls pants has been going on since time began. I am not dismissing it but I can hear some of those same racist voices saying "boys will be boys". Would they have called for the boys to be imprisoned? To be deported? I have a feeling that the police would have talked to the parents of all,come to some sort of settlement, and moved on and no one would have stood up and protested at a town meeting!
This is racism and fear of immigrants who do not look like "us". Breitbart and other alt right media descended on this and blew it up,and many people ate it up. Ignorance and social media have joined together in ways that will destroy this country. Trump and his support of this kind of hate has dome more to make America rotten than anyone before him. I'm not counting on things improving any time soon.
23
It would be really good for parents to keep their little boys from doing any such thing to little girls. Bunch of deviates on the path to becoming grown rapists.
Really? I don't think that every little boy or girl who pulled down the opposite or same sex pants grew up to be a rapist! Kids do these things mostly out of curiosity.
What ever happened to "home of the brave"? Why are Americans so afraid? We are all immigrants, or descendants of immigrants. Are we afraid because our ancestors were criminals and rapists that destroyed native cultures that were here for centuries before us? Are we afraid that immigrants who almost always work harder than us we be successful, maybe more than we are? Or are we afraid that we are not really the generous and caring people we think we are?
We have let the parasites of this country, like Bannon, Stranahan, Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Beck, et. al., who are fueled by hatred and will do anything for notoriety, make us afraid of ourselves. Is this xenophobia American "exceptionalism".
18
The individuals you identify do it for the $$$, first and foremost.
They do not care what the consequences are.
They were told of the American dream and they have turned it into a nightmare for so many.
10
Perhaps you might call it semi-Fake news - because in fact a sexual assault did take place against a 5 year old girl. While the story mentions retractions and lawsuits over people's good names being besmirched....the real victim in this story gets little notice. While the fake news angle does provide further evidence of Russian influence, I for one would also like to know what was actually done to support the victim and her family.
11
I'm not sure how you think having their privacy violated would "support the victim and her family."
7
It seems that the more economically stressed have the least tolerance for the truth. Hence science is also rejected. Trumpists thrive on truth denial, especially if they have opportunities to vent their rage at handy scapegoats, women, refugees, undocumented aliens, homosexuals. Truth searching, critical thinking, education itself, all are now disparaged by the Breitbart types and other truth deniers. What is it in the air that is so intoxicating to scream, "Lock her up." rather than to discern truths?
14
It is easier to chant a slogan while being led by one’s favorite demagogue, than it is to search out what the truth behind the accusations.
I think most pertinent to your comment is the mention of the “...more economically stressed...” who have largely fallen victim to the gold plated promises of the current president* because he has promised them pie in the sky and a whole new life. They are surely the easiest targets because of their desperation.
5
I fake call news dropping a bombshell accusing the Russians of interfering with propaganda in a juvenile sexual assault case - without one link, citation, or shred of evidence.
2
Where does the story claim that the Russians "interfered with propaganda" in the Idaho legal case? Your comment is not event an accurate summary of the thing you're trying to criticize.
7
What's your "evidence" Neal?
4
Maybe Facebook turned over evidence this week.
Thank you for showing the world what Red state ignorance really is.
Afraid of Idaho turning Blue! Still laughing...
Have they ever heard of the word D-E-M-O-C-R-A-C-Y that might come to Red states?
Giving people the right to vote without crazy restrictions?
Instead of insulting people who kneel to show their disgust, Breitbart, Grudge, Fox news and others should be banned or at least barred from spreading hate.
15
Idaho turning blue? Sadly, not likely to happen in the foreseeable future. Consider this fact: since 1950 Idaho has had eight different Governors, and six of those were Republican. Also, Idaho last elected a Democrat to the US Senate in 1974.
It is this lack of political diversity that allows people like Terry Edwards to dominate the local news scene. Where the bulk of the electorate cares only about the political party letter following a candidate's name on the ballot, democracy can not truly exist.
1
It's as if life in this country has been run through a photoshop filter that converts everything that happens in to another episode of Souh Park.
13
Somebody gets paid by the word.
Maybe the movie of this story will be better.
2
A couple little Muslim kids were engaged in a sex act with a five year old girl. That part isn't fake. The kids were found guilty. The tape of what happened couldn't be released because that would constitute circulating child pornography. So the citizens of Twin Falls are left to speculate on what happened. That's when we get the stories. Even in the nomenclature of reporting we have news and stories. Up to the reader to tell them apart.
5
As to the "tape,' the law enforcement spokesman was an idiot. It could not be released because of state laws that forbid releasing information about law breaking by children. Both the accused and the victim were children. We have a legal system which believes that children are not just little adults and need to be protected whether perpetrators of victims. the juvenile system attempts to help children so that they will not grow up to be adult criminals.
1
Why was a 5 year old girl alone anywhere? Where were the parents?
1
"A couple little Muslim kids were engaged in a sex act with a five year old girl. That part isn't fake."
I doubt whether "little Muslim kids" have cultural awareness that they are Muslim, why they are Muslim, or how they differ from little Christian kids or little Jewish kids or little atheist or agnostic kids.
The fact that the little girl was urinated on is not fake news. And a 5 year old cannot "ask for it.
7
The article does not deny that a real assault of a five year old took place. That is horrific. The way that this little girl and her family were exploited by an immoral fabulist representing himself as a reporter is almost equally horrific.
13
For goodness' sake, why can't you, and half the TV reporters in America, learn to use correct prepositions? An "assault of" someone means that that someone is the perpetrator of the assault, just as "assault by" someone would mean that. An "assault on" someone means that that someone is the victim of an assault - the assault of (or by) someone else.
Can you provide a link to the fact that the little girl was urinated on? It's not in this article. It's not even alleged in this article that she was urinated on, so where are you getting your "fact"?
1
These people were being manipulated by Russians and sadly home grown cranks and fools. And they think they are making America great again. I'm ashamed to call these people citizens of my country.
13
Members of my family wonder why I have lost all interest in their increasingly warped, Fox- and Limbaugh-addled lives.
19
Every day I see and feel a further disintegration of our society and as much as I want to blame T-rump, I know there is a bigger picture. How did we get to a point where the richest among us feel paranoid about speaking out and the poor continue their voiceless (and scorned) journey?
I can not excuse the rich- they don't speak out because so often they are worried about losing their "hard-earned" money and hoping the Mercer family and Kochs will continue doing their dirty work.
My heart goes out to those in need. I fear our capacity to care and help is being diminished every day.
Thanks go out to companies like Chobani for continuing to help lift people up.
Vote in 2018 like your life and world depends on it...because there are too many guns around and we are in dire straits.
37
Republicans seem to have never heard the saying ' there but for the grace of God go you'. They cannot put themselves in someone else's shoes and have some gratitude and empathy.
I find it interesting that only the Republicans push these false stories through Fox, Breitbart and shills like Alex Jones. Could it be that Democrats are too intelligent to fall for the "fake news" that these sites churn out? Or is there a fundamental difference in the decency of the two parties?
This type of behavior may work to rile up the base in the short run, but now groups like the Tea Party and the Freedom Caucus help keep the Republicans from governing because the party is so splintered. This too, will turn out to hurt them in the end.
21
I don't think we're entirely immune but certainly less susceptible than far too many people on the right.
I recall a piece on a news program praising Mr. Ulukaya, an immigrant himself from the Middle East, for locating the Chobani company in Idaho, and providing jobs for locals as well as immigrants.
Now the haters have turned on him for doing good in their community. No good deed goes unpunished.
53
Fake news outlets are exploiting people's preference for outraged controversy over fact, particularly when it reinforces their prejudices. As Trav S.D. wrote about P.T. Barnum's stirring up public debate over his fake museum exhibits, "the sheer gall of the man was entertainment in itself;" and, "Better a fake unicorn than no unicorn at all." I think of these lines frequently when following the recent news.
12
One of the things that most disturbed me about this article was that some of the people that were caught up in the hysteria were upset that small children were not jailed.
66
....small “brown, immigrant” children were not jailed.
Could not imagine them being upset about white “boys will be boys”.
If anyone really thinks there’s no difference in this distinction I suggest it’s because you don’t want there to be, but it’s apparent all over.
9
Deportation of the whole family would be much better when there are millions of people who are not deviants trying to come to the US.
Name, you might be pure as the driven snow, but I'll bet most Americans at some point in their childhood played "doctor" in the hope of getting a look at the genitals of the other sex--or even touching a forbidden area. Or they bargained, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" with the same intention. Should we deport the entire population that indulged in that kind of typical childhood behavior?
Well the issue is not are these people crazy, but how do we have less crazy people and how do we reduce these prairie fires of lies.
From my perspective it is to limit the size of businesses using a tax structure, that penalizes size, both for corporations and individuals. And better education. And national single payer healthcare. And develop a national policy for manufacturing, it creates dispersed wealth, service jobs do not.
People feel a declining standard of living while seeing others get ahead. It's been the case for forty years. That's a lot of the problem. This is not something Trump will fix.
6
An incredible piece of reporting and investigation. Worthy of a Pulizer. A dire warning of what cn befall us and how a few people, can play into the fears and prejudices of the many. A truly global story.
25
When Hunter S. Thompson did political writing it was always titled "Fear and Loathing in ..." This is the story of Fear and Loathing in Twin Falls, America and the world. It is not about truth or the betterment of mankind. The innocent are run over, including children, refugees, good public servants and good reporters. The perpetrators are rewarded with clicks, ad income and votes. Legitimate news sources are the front line of this battle. We have met the enemy and he is us. Please continue to stand for truth, justice and liberty for all.
29
“There are a lot of people who feel like society is changing too quickly, like the community is changing too quickly,”
People said the same thing about every progressive idea for the last 100 years. If you ask when is the right time, they say, we'll know; which means never.
Great article
29
What's going on in the U.S. today can, in part, be blamed on the public education system. If students took a media literacy class in middle school, they would be aware of what makes a news organization one that respects the truth, and one with the purpose of manipulating how people think so they can be easily controlled.
17
Indeed. And since most teens just love being able to show their parents that they have it all wrong, middle school or first year of high school is the perfect time for this. They should be made to fact check.
3
Great piece and what seems like an objective/balanced account of what actually took place. The most salient point revealed by this story, though, is the quickly mentioned statistic: 1 percent of the US is Muslim. I'm not sure why this fact doesn't resonate as a reality check when people talk about a Islamic takeover or a war on Christmas. It's like the ocean getting in an uproar over spit.
30
Actually all Muslims in the US are 0.75% of the population and that includes black (American) Muslims. (Not all Muslims are from the Middle East, obviously.)
However, in comparison....Jews make up 1.6% of the US population, and I wish I had a dollar for every time I have read in these lefty forums that "influential American JEWS (AIPAC) are driving US policy about Israel"....despite those very low numbers.
I do not accept bigotry towards any race or religion; however, the LEFT encourages this kind of religious hatred -- including their animosity towards Christians, Roman Catholics, Mormons, etc.
When Mitt Romney ran for POTUS in 2012, the sheer volume of nasty, hateful speech about Mormons and their beliefs would fill an encyclopedia! It was constant, spiteful and politically biased -- but it was OK, because "Mormons are strange" and we can't have a Mormon POTUS -- though of course, opposing a Muslim or black President makes you a "hateful xenophobic bigot".
1
To be fair, AIPAC--which actually does not represent all American Jews--has as its mission influencing the U.S. government:
"AIPAC’s staff and citizen activists educate decision makers about the bonds that unite the United States and Israel and how it is in America’s best interest to help ensure that the Jewish state is safe, strong and secure."
And, in 2013 had a budget of $64.3 million to support its efforts, including lobbying against the Iran deal. Comparing complaints about AIPAC, a very well-funded lobbying organization, to hatred displayed against individual citizens of a different religion is disingenuous.
"the LEFT encourages this kind of religious hatred -- including their animosity towards Christians, Roman Catholics, Mormons, etc."
No, CC, the LEFT does not encourage this kind of hatred. Yes, some people on the left do, but the left is not monoithic. Many lefties (to use the term you constantly toss around to disparage all those people whose political beliefs you dislike) ARE Christians, Roman Catholics (actually, I thought Roman Catholics were by definition Christian), why, some lefites are even Mormons.
"I do not accept bigotry towards any race or religion;"
But bigotry against people who have different political beliefs is okay?
If truth is the first casualty of war, major hostilities are certainly now well underway.
As a child I learned in school that the primary difference between America and the Old World was that people (immigrants, no less) came here not only yearning to be free but also open to new ideas, innovation, and underlying all that - a more truthful appreciation of the world.
What happened? Where did the land of progress, Jonas Salk, and Nobel Prize winners go? Why has ignorance and mean-spirited prejudice acquired such fresh legs in the current period?
Is this a last gasp of antediluvian backwardness or the beginning of the death spiral? I can hope for the former but honestly admit fear of the later.
17
Maybe the New World isn't really all that much of a NEW world after all.
There ought to be a law. Oh wait, there was.... It was called the Fairness Doctrine, and Reagan Republicans repealed it in the 80's. The Fairness Doctrine required the media to allow equal time for opposing views. Interesting how since the repeal rage and anger has spread throughout the country; radio people like Limbaugh never even had a stable job until the repeal, and you can say the same for Fox News.
The Fairness Doctrine clearly needs to be reinstated.
29
What's needed is a legal requirement that news be basically factual.
We have that in Canada, you can make errors, there can be mistakes however journalists have to ensure that there's a reasonable standard of accuracy in their reporting.
The "freedom of speech" approach allows people to say things that aren't factual, and may in fact be harmful, that's why hate speech legislation is also required in a civil society.
501
Absolutely! Deliberately inciting hate should be treated exactly like crying out "Fire" when there is none.
8
The Fairness Doctrine was eliminated in 1987 and the FCC formally removed the language that implemented it in 2011. The evolution of the imposter cast of characters we see today in the media is its spiny outgrowth.
2
There is a perfect mix of elements in this story that makes it so troubling. First, it takes place in state where xenophobia reigns. Second, it takes place in a small town where any "newcomer" is suspect. Third, it has near its core a person who spends all of his time creating monsters in his uninformed mind. Fourth, it is perpetuated by a willingness to believe anything coming from "news" sources like Breitbart and dismiss fact as lies coming from the "liberal" media. Last, but not, it takes place where wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap and wrapping oneself in the flag take the place of thoughtful citizenship. In other words, it's a place like thousands of others that put our liar in chief in the White House.
22
A microcosm; as long as humans live, there will never be an end to war.
2
"Part of the reason a fear of Islam has persisted in Twin Falls is because the local leadership refused to defuse it". Interesting how the elitist viewpoint of Ms. Dickerson twists the issues. Somehow, the people are supposed to believe whatever the "leadership" tells them to, rather than forming their own opinion. Further, it's a fear of Islam, rather than an awareness of consistent past behavior around the world. I could go on.
3
Conspiracy theorist can always "go on."
8
I like how "actually believing a single word that comes out of nutter Alex Jones's mouth" is described as "forming their own opinion."
9
None of this story surprises me. Just yesterday, an acquaintance posted some hysterical rant about vaccines on Facebook linking to a story in some bogus website. Pointing out that the website is not credible brought out the conspiracy response involving the main stream media lying. I've had well educated friends tell me that there is a cure for cancer, but oncologists and cancer centers won't let it be used because they will lose too much money.
An elderly relative refuses to watch Ken Burns' Vietnam War documentary because it's obviously full of liberal lies using doctored film and interviews done by actors portraying real soldiers and war victims. I know quite a few people who still firmly and absolutely believe that President Obama is a foreign born Muslim.
The genie is impossible to put back in the bottle. How long until it leads to massive bloodshed?
49
It does not surprise me either; this is not new and it has nothing to do with Trump -- it's existed for decades.
My own father, when diagnosed with terminal cancer....fell prey to these theories and books about "there is a cure for cancer, but the doctors will not release it (because treating cancer is so profitable to them!)". He had many books and videos on the subject, and BTW: the "cure" that is so hidden is basically eating a strict vegan diet with lots of supplements, vitamins etc -- which the authors of such tracts are conveniently SELLING to you.
My dad spent thousands of dollars on such quack stuff, even going to a "cancer cure institute" in another state, and learning how to drink things like wheat grass juice. (I think juicing is great, it just does not cure CANCER!) In the meantime, he was encouraged to forgo chemo & radiation, that would have bought him another 2-3 years of life.
To claim this all started with Obama is false; my dad was diagnosed in 2003 and passed away in 2004. It was rampant THEN, and Trump was not even a flicker on the horizon.
BTW: the left has its own strange beliefs and paranoid delusions.
1
You're right, CC, this kind of stuff has always gone on. In an earlier post someone quoted Jonathan Swift saying in 1710: "Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it." However, we certainly haven't always had a president who lies constantly. And I'm not talking about the political fictions that are endemic to holding public office but what are in effect conspiracy theories, like claiming that the black man who has been elected president is in fact a Kenyan-born Muslim and then lying about the fact that he has personally sent investigators to Hawaii to find out the truth and then lying that you "can't believe what they're finding". This is the man sitting in the White House. This is abnormal. This is who Donald Trump is. But, go ahead, keep on blasting those of us who didn't fall for the liar-in-chief's constant destructive lies.
Rationality, reality and emotional reactions are completely incongruent in this saga. The story is of "Syrians" who are not even Syrian. Children everywhere are curious about sex. Duh. Scapegoating and fear of immigrants are not new, of course. A panty peeking party turns into a gang rape in the rumor mill, with knives, perpetrated by sex-crazed Muslims, ages 7 and 10 years. This was followed by a big celebration with their fathers. Right. Clearly there was bad behavior, perhaps even coercion, and/or embarrassment by the girl, but gang rape? The boys deserve to be in trouble and depending on the actual facts -- facts -- appropriate punishment. The hysteria is stunning. Whatever happened to critical thinking?
38
Great reporting. Quite a contrast to the deliberate propaganda utilized by Breitbart and the fringe lunatics who write for it.
And, also, sadly, a further reminder of how easy it is to dupe a great many people with propaganda.
510
So there are (reactinary) crazy people in Idaho, plus a couple boys who need deporting, along with their parents, before they get around to worse deviate behavior?
9
Name, if the boys were American citizens, what should their punishment be?
18
Like all great lies, the fake news had a small and irrelevant connection to the truth.
Yes, there was something that is criminal; yes, there were immigrant children involved. But because the truth can't lead anyone on a crusade against muslims and immigrants, and god knows that some people value the crusade more than the truth, the pebble of truth is in a sea of lies.
7
I don't know if you ever did something terrible or just bad when you were ten years old. You surely knew someone who did. Did you want to see their parents in prison or out of the country? Did any of the turn out OK in the end? By the way, where did your grandparents come from? My grandparents were immigrants. They were "white" but their species of white was considered sub-human by the Ku Klux Klan, among others. Like the Irish and Scots before them... No, it's not easy taking immigrants into a country. No one has gotten it exactly right in the first generation, in Europe or the USA. But I notice something about all the European countries that reject immigrants: Their best young people deport themselves to more tolerant places, where their kids have a future. Is that the fate of America?
6
Sadly, it is this kind of fear of the other - and the dubious so-called media (right wing propagandists really) that drives people to vote for a misogynistic narcissist like Trump. I have no doubt this article will be dismissed by them as left wing tripe.
210
They will. Look where the article appears.
1
They don't like sexual predators so they vote for one for President.
18
"Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it" said Jonathan Swift in 1710. If that was true in the age of the sailing ship, think how much worse it is now in the age of the internet.
696
Thanks for that quotation, Ron. Perfect!
1
Indeed, falsehood flies on private corporate jets. The truth takes the not-quite-up-to-code "completed" fraction of the 2nd Avenue Subway promised four decades ago.
Which is stronger, intellect or emotion? If there was a summary statement, a takeaway from this very sad case, it is that "fake news" is neither news, nor fake, because it pulls on the emotional heartstrings in just the way it is intended: to stoke fear in the hearts of the casual observer. The emotions reflected in this report are very real, and that is why these emotions last so long, and are so disruptive to society. The effects of media on the emotional well being of the participant are well known. Are we in denial regarding the long lasting emotional effects of "fake news"? Are we blind to the deleterious effects of propaganda?
95
The more I keep on reading, the more amaze I am on the lack of research skills of the "journalists" reporting against Islam. None have researched about the religion nor the community with the people involved with the community. All has been learned by second and no reliable sources. Is a shame and is just ingrained in the right (and some extreme left) mentality. Believe whatever and do not to the work to confirm. Shameful.
101
It isn't lack of research skills, it's lack of any desire to do research. The hate and fear mongers are doing it deliberately because it's good for their ratings and add sales. The truth is bad for business.
2
Two thoughts come to mind. Trump talked about a "400 lb guy in bed" instigating fake news but it looks like a 52 year old underemployed, paranoid white man is more the profile. Second, I recall a Twilight Zone episide where aliens (ones from other planets, not Syrians or Mexicans) easily sowed a few seeds of paranoia and then sat back to watch human society self destruct. This is where we find America today. Our president by his example has opened a Pandora's Box of hatred, divisiveness and bigotry that may never be closed again.
897
Deflect, Distract, Divide
Making America HATE AGAIN.
And we all know who will start the next war...with a early morning tweet.
6
The episode is called: "The Monsters Come to Maple Street" and it is exactly what I thought when I read this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monsters_Are_Due_on_Maple_Street
2
from the closing narration of that episode of The Twilight Zone, "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" written by Rod Serling...
"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices – to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill – and suspicion can destroy – and a thoughtless frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own – for the children – and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is – that these things cannot be confined – to the Twilight Zone."
1
It appears once rational Americans no longer discuss issues. They no longer talk to one another - they trumpet, blasting babble instead of coherent opinions and questions. What a legacy of lunacy - and perhaps irreparable damage - this bizarre fake president seems to be destined. It is sad to see an embarrassingly shameless, crude, immature, vulgar, arrogant, petty, lying, dishonest, shallow, ignorant and mercurial naco in the White House. Sad? It's scary and sickening.
59
Currently missing from most public discussion: listening with the intention to understand, sense of obligation to leave the world a better place for posterity when you die, sense of obligation to consider your point of view may not be true, sense of obligation to make sure what come out of your mouth or written on paper is verifiable fact, critical thinking skills, gratitude for all who came before you and care for all who will come after you.
116
All those people making up a story to further their own agendas makes me sick. And when you point out that these people have lied in their account of the incident, they could care less. Most people are not mature enough to have control of devices that can post stories. Along with a computer or smart phone should be a warning like they have on amusement rides, except of age or height, the warning should read: Your IQ needs to be above the temperature of the room in order to post content.
Most of the people who read and consume these stories are fools and sheep. They can be lead along and never question inconsistencies. I would no more get news and information from face book or these internet sites than I would pay any attention to some thing written on a public restroom wall.
171
As a progressive democrat I am saddened by this but not surprised. I've lived the last 7 years in communities with sizable Republican populations and when meeting new people I find many to be reasonable, measured conservatives dismayed by the more egregious antics of Trump.
I am however deeply disturbed by the large number of well educated high-achieving people I meet who within short order share with me the most ridiculous fake news or non news stories they've heard on Fox News. When I gently challenge their story ("No-Hillary did not personally decline sending help to Ben Ghazi according to the inspector general.") I am scolded for being naive and lied to by "lame stream" media.
It is exhausting. And disheartening. It feels like middle school all over again with those annoying bullies whose most effective retort to any challenge was "I know you are but what am I?"
674
I like Julie Stolzer's post, but I must take exception to her statement "when meeting new people I find many to be reasonable, measured conservatives dismayed by the more egregious antics of Trump".
As we have just seen with the latest reincarnation of the Obamacare repeal bill, Republicans are still willing to support outrageously bad laws, no matter what they may think or say. I will have respect for "ordinary" Republicans only when they actually stop voting for bad policies.
15
Yes. exhausting describes these kinds of conversations. One of my dear friends will simply not acknowledge that undocumented immigrants cannot and do not legally receive Food Stamps, Medicaid, Medicare, or any other federal benefit. My friend is a college educated, affluent businessman, but even when I show him the laws and state regs requiring all recipients of federal benefits to provide proof of ctizenship or legal residency when applying for benefits, he says he "knows" a lot of undocumented people who use Food Stamps and receive "welfare." How is he so sure they are undocumented? He can't tell me that, but he is sure of it. He also "knows" that people use Food Stamps to buy liquor and TVs. You just can't penetrate their bubble with facts or statistics.
7
The appropriate response is, no, you don't understand, I don't follow Fox News, InfoWars or Brietbart or any of the other lame stream media, I read the NYTs.
But your comments explain precisely why so many of us on the other side do not seek out Trump supporters or other alt-right types to have frank conversations exchanging ideas. We know from research (being the types who 1) follow science and 2) believe in it) that demonstrating even incontrovertibly facts to the contrary to such folks does nothing to change their minds -- instead it convinces them that they were right even more.
Most do the opposite of Keynes who famously said, when faced with new facts that disprove my former theories, I change my mind. What do you do?
They don't.
2
What? Or, so what? There is a rampant 'them v. us' belief in this country (and likely many others). It's a given. So how does expressions of or reports about this belief, by either side, matter? None of this affects my life. Does it change yours? Let the people express their views. Even if wrong or vile, what difference does it make?
5
it will affect you when it reaches your town, your neighborhood, your children and your children's schools....then everyone will be running around like chickens without heads trying to kill each other out of suspicion and fear.
20
What difference does it make? What a surprising thing to say.
7
Now imagine writing this as a German citizen in the 1930's.
23
Thanks for this piece putting the Twin Falls episode into a national context, including the fake news component and social media reaction. This is an example of the important work that real journalists do.
420
An outstanding story, and so badly needed at this time to push back at the flood of misinformation. Thanks.
199
Fake news is as old as Moses. In more recent times Bill Gates "giving away his fortune" to "charity" as his net worth grows by $8 billion a year and he remains the wealthiest man in America.
5
So it's fake news that Bill Gates has in fact donated over $28 billion to charitable causes? Yes, he's still worth about $84 billion, but does he have to give all of it away at once to satisfy you?
How much has Trump donated to real charities (not his own fraud)?
43
Bill and Melinda Gates give extraordinary amounts to charity. I'm not exactly sure where you're going with this.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/15/...
24
If you had $84 Billion in a shoebox on the closet shelf and spent $1 Million of that per day, it would take you 230 years to run out of money. I would try to be frugal and spend only $500,000 per day so it would last me 460 years.
13
Literally, a tale of how disabled men and women lead a vast fear-mongering conspiracy rooted in willful ignorance.
73
Very unsettling. The Stanahan fellow's devolution mystifies me. The townsfolk seem like they're from an episode of The Twilight Zone. I reflected on a 60 Minutes report on the owner of the Chobani factory. He hired thousands of workers, many refugees but many Idahoans. He was praised by Twin Falls. This shows what really lurks underneath the pleasant demeanors.
316
I saw the one same report on 60 minutes...maybe the residents of the town would not be so crazy angry and anti middle eastern if it were a fried chicken factory...only globalists eat yogurt, right?
6
It was not the whole town acting crazy. The story clearly says the majority in the town were not anti-immigrant or buying into the wild theories. What the article points out is that the sane folks kept their heads down and stayed silent, thus allowing the rabid few to run free. So it's not a complete failure of our society and education system but it is a complete failure of civic duty.
8
The Twilight Zone episode you mention was "The monsters are due on Maple Street". The parallels are pretty disturbing.
5
So, how was it fake news? The fact that they were from Iraq and Sudan, not Syria? And there was no knife?
They were arrested and charged, so obviously there was a crime. How could the townspeople know the truth if the police would not reveal what happened?
Seems like this article is more "fake news" than the Twin Falls story.
The bottom line is that the federal government should not have the authority to place refugees in towns where they are unwanted.
19
Aside from your surprising interpretation of this event, the town has a long history of resetting immigrants. Your statement that refugees shouldn't be settled where they aren't wanted just doesn't hold water in this case.
48
ask yourself, if this had involved only young white american children if would have been news at all? if your child had been involved would you want the facts reported on national media and exaggerated beyond belief, or handled quietly my the proper authorities?
68
No knife and no indication that there was a rape. I would say that reports of a "rape at knifepoint" constitutes fake news. Yes, without having the police reveal details of what happened, townspeople can't know the truth, but in the absence of facts, why assume the worst?
62
This and other stories, especially Pizzagate, shows fake news can be outright dangerous and ruin lives. There's always been gossip and fake news, but the internet makes it far too easy to spread lies. Adding gas to the fire are people too lazy to check the credibility of a story. Some of the people starting and spreading these stories are so called "media figures." Unfortunately there aren't many easy solutions. Public shaming would be the place to start, however, usually once it's been revealed as a hoax people have since moved on and don't care.
100
Careful there. "Public shaming" can cut both ways. Look what happened to Hillary Clinton, who had been the victim of just such "fake news" and therefore unjustified "public shaming" for decades.
6
Very true. The GOP is much better at public attacks and shaming.
2
Public shaming only works when there is any potential for shame in the public--Joseph Welch managed to plant a seed that became the leading edge to squelch the McCarthy Hearings ("Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"). There was some level of integrity that led the GOP leadership to confront Nixon with reality & led to the resignation...and despite the fact that it cost his career, Jerry Ford loved the country enough to put the "long national nightmare" of Nixon behind us.
As thankful as I am for John McCain's recent actions re: the GOP healthcare debacle, his comment to the woman during the 2008 campaign demeaning then-candidate Obama, and am in awe of the endurance he & his POW brothers demonstrated, it's complicated by the fact that he gave the likes of Sarah Palin & that branch of the party credibility & a platform, spoke/voted against ACA/consumer healthcare welfare more often than not... Most leaders are like those reported in Twin Falls who stymied the paper's efforts to defang the false news viper by refusing to take a public stand, and that seems to be the case for so many that public shaming is ineffectual.
4
I read through to the end waiting for the "and then the residents found their brains and came to their senses" summary of this mess. If the implications weren't so dire, this could be a mockumentary created by Christopher Guest with its cast of gullible, small-town residents--how do people like Vicky Davis and Terry Edwards function?--and the easily-brainwashed Stranahan who lurks on creepy/sad websites looking for validation of his insanity. And this is all pre-Trump. God help us.
327
Spot on. Can't wait for the Netflix version a la Fargo, all the more scary for being true. Or the AMC Walking Dead version where the refugees hide in a Chobani factory to escape the putrified townfolk...
10
Stranahan is certainly creepy but not at all sad. I don't think for a minute he believes any of this. He likes attention and being well paid to invent crazy stories is probably his dream come true. He as much as said truth wasn't good business and he also said he is now working for the Russians for the money and gleefully using the outraged publicity provided by articles like this to earn more money and more attention. I am sure he enjoys watching gullible idiots swallow his stories. He is still writing fiction and parody, it's just that he is the only one laughing now, all the way to the bank.
7
If you were waiting for that, I hope you were not holding your breath.
The real fake news, thanks to no small part from the alt-right and the Russians, convinced enough citizens to vote for a fake president.
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A small paragraph herein, describing what we now know happened:
"Later, it turned out that fake Facebook accounts linked to the Russian government helped to spread stories about Twin Falls and even organized one of the rallies there. The event was also poorly attended but is the first known Russian attempt to spark a demonstration on American soil."
Everywhere we turn, Russian operations and operatives hard at work. But not as dangerous to America as kneeling footbal players.
849
Dr. Bob -- yes, some sharp-eyed Russians gave an extra push to a snowball that was already big and rolling fast. I'm pretty sure that will turn out to be the case with most or all of their social-media disinformation effort.
I take very seriously the cyber-probing of states' voter-registration and election management systems, and I take very seriously the Trump circle's overtures to (and conflicts of interest involving) many foreign powers. But when it comes to poisoning the well of news and discussion, we've done so much damage to ourselves in the last few decades that no hostile power is likely to be more than a bit player.
11
Mdavis, as long as the Russian propaganda campaign can't be proven to affect the outcome of an election, then it's "fire away," right? Let them keep attacking until they actually have a measurable effect -- then we'll start paying attention? No harm in having a gun pointed in your direction as long as it's unloaded?
6
And one of the fomenters of fake news welcomes the opportunity to work for a Russian state media outlet. Wow. The right snarls about "globalization," but the appeal of authoritarianism is indeed international.
8
This is how animals operate. It is clear that those in the extreme right have no morals or scruples, and left to their own designs would gladly destroy our society if it were anything but white and native born white at that!
38
No, you are wrong. Animals never act like this. Ever. They do not plot, scheme and try to annihilate others. They live to survive. Only misguided humans act like this.
33