Murder of Seth Rich

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Shooting and death

On Sunday, July 10, 2016, at 4:20 a.m., Rich was shot about a block from his apartment in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Earlier that night he had been at Lou’s City Bar, a sports pub 1.8 miles (2.9 km) from his apartment, in Columbia Heights, where he was a regular customer. He left when the bar was closing, at about 1:30 or 1:45 a.m. Police were alerted to gunfire at 4:20 a.m. by an automated gunfire locator. Within approximately one minute after the gun shots, police officers found Rich conscious with multiple gunshot wounds.[34] He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he later died. According to police, he died from two shots to the back and may have been killed in an attempted robbery, noting that the neighborhood had recently been plagued by robberies.[28] Rich’s mother told NBC’s Washington affiliate WRC-TV, “There had been a struggle. His hands were bruised, his knees are bruised, his face is bruised, and yet he had two shots to his back, and yet they never took anything… They didn’t finish robbing him, they just took his life.” The police told the family they had found a surveillance videotape showing a glimpse of the legs of two people who could possibly be the killers.

Aftermath

On the day after the shooting, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued a statement mourning his loss and praising Rich’s work to support voter rights. Two days after the shooting, Hillary Clinton spoke of his death during a speech advocating limiting the availability of guns.

In October 2016, a plaque and bike rack outside the DNC headquarters were dedicated to Rich’s memory. In September 2016, Rich’s parents and girlfriend appeared on the syndicated television show Crime Watch Daily to speak about the murder case. In February 2017, the Beth El Synagogue in Omaha named after Rich an existing scholarship that helps Jewish children attend summer camps.

The Rich family accepted the pro bono public relations services of Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman in September 2016. The Rich family and Burkman held a joint press conference on the murder in November 2016. In January 2017, Burkman launched an advertising campaign in Northwest D.C. searching for information regarding Seth’s death. This included billboard advertisements and canvassing with flyers. In late February, Burkman told media outlets he had a lead that the Russian government was involved in Rich’s death, and the Rich family distanced itself from Burkman. On March 19, 2017, Rich’s brother, Aaron, started a GoFundMe campaign to try to raise $200,000 for private investigation, public outreach activities, and a reward fund. On March 24, Burkman started “The Profiling Project” with some forensics students at George Washington University, an independent investigative attempt to solve the murder of Seth Rich. On June 20, 2017, the Profiling Project said that the conspiracy theories surrounding the death were unfounded, and published a report which speculated that the murder was caused by a serial killer.

The Rich family was approached by Ed Butowsky (a friend of Trump advisor Steve Bannon and a frequent Fox News contributor), who recommended having Fox News contributor and former homicide detective Rod Wheeler investigate Seth’s murder. Butowsky said Wheeler had been recommended to him. The family gave Wheeler permission to investigate, though they did not hire him. When questioned by CNN, Butowsky denied involvement in the case, but later admitted he was involved and had offered to pay Wheeler’s fees. After Wheeler asserted links between Rich and Wikileaks in a Fox affiliate interview on May 15, 2017—an assertion he later backpedaled from—the family spokesman said that the family regretted working with Wheeler.[4]Wheeler then sued Fox News on August 1, 2017, for mental anguish and emotional distress, alleging that he had been misquoted in a story that was then published on the urging of President Donald J. Trump.

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niakarad: What about the other 5,000 people in his appointment? What happened to them?

RecoveringGrace: That is odd.

Did you also know that Seth Rich was a regular on reddit in r/DCcycling? He posted *regularly*, like *daily* pointing out safe routes, helping cyclists out with injury and damage claims, alerting heavy traffic. He even posted about using poker winnings to have the cash to fix a flat tire. During this time of being an active poster, *he was struck down by a car on his bike and never mentioned it*. It required major lung and shoulder surgery! But, not a word.

The only mention of a bike/traffic accident in his online profiles is that “he’d had recent surgery and now is lactose intolerant so he can no longer partake in the cheese pizza his roommates taunt him with”.

Isn’t that weird?