Der Spiegel admitted Wednesday that reporter and editor Claas Relotius had "falsified his articles on a grand scale and even invented characters, deceiving both readers and his colleagues." Some of the stories were set in the United States and played to unpleasant European prejudices about Americans, raising questions as to why Der Spiegel accepted them so trustingly. The magazine fired Relotius.

Relotius had worked for Der Spiegel in various capacities since 2011. He contributed more than 50 articles, of which at least 14 contained fabrications. Some of these tainted pieces were nominated for, or even won, awards, and the freelancer was hired by Der Spiegel as an editor. He remained in that job for a year and a half ... Relotius was honored in 2014 by CNN as its Journalist of the Year.

Relotius' former employer said the "first suspicions" about him were raised after the November publication of an article entitled "Jaeger's Border." This was about an alleged "American vigilante group that patrols the border between Mexico and the United States." Relotius' Spanish colleague, Juan Moreno, who collaborated with him on the story, reported his suspicions to Der Spiegel and went back to the United States for confirmation.

However, some American victims of Relotius' lies had already realized the mainstream journalist was a fake.

In an article published yesterday on Medium, Michele Anderson and Jake Krohn described Relotius' visit to their town in February 2017 and the lies he told about it in an article published that spring. In their essay, entitled "Der Spiegel Journalist Messed with the Wrong Small Town," the Fergus Falls, Minnesota residents zeroed in on the most blatant lies Relotius told about the community.

In his article entitled "Where They Pray for Trump on Sundays," the German journalist portrayed the town as "immigrant-fearing" and "gun-obsessed." He falsely described 27-year-old city administrator Andrew Bremseth as man who had never had a serious relationship with a woman, who carried a handgun to work, and who had never seen the ocean. Relotius also falsely claimed that Bremseth was the only person in town who "subscribes to national publications"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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