"Hate Crime" Reported on By Washington Post 15 Times Turns Out to Be, Get This, a Hoax; Washington Post Refuses to Run a New Story On the Hate Hoax

Old news, but whatever:

Shortly after the election last year the media became obsessed with a rise in reported hate crimes. One incident which was widely reported at the time involved a church in Bean Blossom, Indiana which had been spray-painted with a swastika and the phrase "Heil Trump." A slur for gay people was also painted on the church. This week police revealed the crime was actually a "false flag" carried out by the church's own organist, who is himself gay.

In its initial report on the incident, the Washington Post quoted Rev. Kelsey Hutto on her decision to leave the graffiti in place for a few weeks. "It's no secret that the atmosphere of hatred has kind of permeated the nation right now," Hutto told the Post. According to the Daily Caller, the Post mentioned the incident in 15 separate stories.

Although this is now four days old, it remains unreported by the Washington Post as a freestanding, new news story.

A google search for the Washington Post fails to disclose the name of the hoaxer ("George Nathaniel Stang"). A search of the Washington Post's own records turns up only this -- quite down the page, which is where they want it to be:

Acts of Faith This Indiana church was defaced with "HEIL TRUMP" graffiti -- and is keeping it

By Sarah Larimer

November 15, 2016

Note the headline remains at the Washington Post. Also note the date-- from six months ago. This is their original story -- they just added an update to it. Without changing the headline to "HOAX "HATE" INCIDENT IN INDIANA" or whatever.

Update May 8, 2017: The Brown County Prosecutor’s Office charged George Nathaniel Stang with institutional criminal mischief, following a lengthy investigation. Stang, 26, was the organist at St. David’s Episcopal Church, according to a news release. "Stang stated that he wanted to mobilize a movement after being disappointed in and fearful of the outcome of the national election," the release stated.

That's the only Washington Post reportage on it -- adding an update to a six month old story that no one will see unless they search really hard (I didn't find it on my first look, as I was expecting it to be, you know, in the past week).

And they kept the headline intact.

And the rest of the story, too, it appears, though I wouldn't bet against stealth deletions.

Published on Nov. 15, 2016:

The Rev. Kelsey Hutto said she learned about the graffiti from an organist, who had arrived at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Sunday morning.

Hutto called the authorities and went to the central Indiana church herself, where she saw what had been spray-painted on its walls.

"HEIL TRUMP," read one message.

Etc. The rest of the story is just the same from November 15, 2016, same narrative, same panic about an explosion of hate crimes.

It's just -- the entire thing was false from the start.

And they just added this "update" to a flagrantly wrong story today, despite the fact this broke last week. And they still haven't given this story its own, you know, story. Just a parenthetical update to a long-buried story they hope no one will see.

Democracy Dies in Darkness, doesn't it?

15 Times Turns Out to Be, Get This, a Hoax; Washington Post Refuses to Run a New Story On the Hate Hoax&bodytext=Old news, but whatever: Shortly after the election last year the media became obsessed with a rise in reported hate crimes. One incident which was widely reported at the time involved a church in Bean Blossom, Indiana which had been...&topic=world_news"> posted by Ace at 07:05 PM

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