At first glance, the killing of Ramzan Daraev was a senseless tragedy. Daraev was taking photographs of a telephone pole in Carthage, North Carolina, on May 3 for his utility company job. A U.S. Army special operations colonel who lives on that street accused Daraev of trespassing; the confrontation ended with the colonel shooting Daraev dead.
Journalists smelled a more sensational story. Daraev, it turns out, was an immigrant from Chechnya, a Muslim-majority region of Russia that has a history of conflict with the Russian government. Fox News reporters and a conservative social media personality falsely called Daraev an illegal alien, both implying that Daraev was a Russian spy.
