It’s Friday, July 10. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: River Page goes cold turkey on tech with the modern-day Luddites. Why the Michigan Senate race matters. Michael Shermer on why the Charlie Kirk conspiracies are immune to facts. Olivia Reingold explains why Clavicular just popped up in Israel.

But first: Frannie Block reports on a dark tale of a teenage boy accused of sexual assault, and the tragedy that came next.

Your child has been accused of terrible wrongdoing, the school you trusted presumes him guilty, and you can’t find any way to defend him.

I’ve spoken to so many families who have been through this.

There was the 12-year-old in Illinois who saw his friend tying a jump rope into a noose in the schoolyard—and asked if he was okay—only to be accused of a “hate crime.” And the 17-year-old in California whose life was derailed when someone found a picture of him wearing a dark acne mask—and claimed it was “blackface.”

But this is one of the hardest stories I’ve ever told.

“I didn’t do this,” 15-year-old Owen Poirier told his parents when they picked him up from school for the last time.

They didn’t know what he was talking about. They just knew that he had been suspended that morning and that he was facing a criminal investigation.

Later, they learned that a girl had claimed Owen touched her crotch on the school bus. Eventually, they discovered that there was scant evidence to support this allegation. The school’s principal admitted months later in an email: “There was no sexual assault.”

But by then, it was too late. Owen had killed himself.

If he was still alive today, he would be 18, working at the family business, and preparing to take over one day. Instead, his parents are locked in a legal battle over who is to blame for Owen’s death. The truth is starting to emerge in court, where a disturbing picture is being painted, of due process trampled, and a rush to judgment that cost a boy his life.

—Frannie Block

River Page • Culture and Ideas

Yes, Phones Are Bad. But Can You Live Without One?

Can you escape your smartphone? That’s the goal of a festival called the Summer of Ludd, named after those 19th-century Luddites who smashed up the looms that were replacing human labor. We sent River Page to meet the contemporary Luddites trying to break free from their screens. Come for the deep dive into the battle to stay human in the digital age. Stay for the anti-tech performance art and the attendee who calls herself “Waterbed.” Read story ›

Noah Bernstein • U.S. Politics

Abdul El-Sayed’s War Against the Democratic Party

What does Michigan’s Democratic primary race for the Senate, being fought by incumbent congresswoman Haley Stevens and far-left Abdul El-Sayed, say about the direction of the party? It might just say everything. At their fiery debate on Tuesday night, the two Democrats went after each other as much as they did the presumptive Republican opponent. Noah Bernstein reports from Michigan on how the state became a major battleground in the Democratic Party’s war against itself. Read story ›

Michael Shermer • U.S. Politics

Why the Charlie Kirk Conspiracy Theories Will Never Die

The evidence keeps piling up against Tyler Robinson, accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk last year. On Thursday, prosecutors played an interview with Robinson’s former lover, who said Robinson told him that he wished “he hadn’t done it.” If you think this evidence will destroy the grotesque conspiracy theories about Kirk’s death, think again, says Michael Shermer. Read Michael’s column on what we’ve learned from this week’s court hearing, and why it won’t matter to the likes of Candace Owens. Read story ›

Olivia Reingold • Culture and Ideas

Clavicular Is Israelmaxxing

Fewer than six months ago, the “looksmaxxing” streamer Clavicular was partying to “Heil Hitler,” a Kanye West song that samples audio of an Adolf Hitler speech. Now he is paying a visit to the Holy Land. Cue outrage from his followers and friends, many of whom have a track record of antisemitism. So what is the controversial Gen-Z icon doing in Israel? Olivia Reingold picked up the phone and asked him exactly that. Read story ›