Sandy Hook 'truthers' harass Newtown man, conspiracy theories go viral
POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Sunday, August 25, 2024 14:37
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With talk of a second shooter, Israeli death squads, and connections to “The Dark Knight Rises,” the Sandy Hook shooting has joined the ranks of other tragedies associated with conspiracy theories.
Just days after 20 first-graders and six adults were shot and killed at the school in Newtown, Conn., alternative theories and wild claims began circulating. In recent days, one Newtown man who helped survivors of the shooting has come under attack.
Some of the conjectures have arisen out of distrust of the government and media outlets. In other cases, they've gotten traction because they offer an explanation, when the "why" of the shooting has been elusive. A desire to deflect blame, for example away from guns, could also be at work.
“The Web seems to be the new home of the conspiracy theory. It’s where conspiracy theories live, because the Web is so good at virally spreading around these kinds of little stories,” says Jeffrey L. Pasley, an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he teaches a class on conspiracy theories.
Individuals questioning the mainstream account of events have already been dubbed Sandy Hook truthers. They're turning to websites like SandyHookHoax.com, questionable photos, and YouTube videos that take issue with reporting on the day of the shooting.
One person the truthers have zeroed in on is Gene Rosen, a Newtown man who took in six terrified students the morning of the shooting. He gave interviews to various media outlets afterward, and since then, he's been accused of being an actor paid to play a part. Fake Facebook profiles have been created in his name, and footage of the interviews with him has been edited and reposted, purportedly proving that Mr. Rosen is an actor.
“I don’t know what to do,” Rosen, a retired psychologist, told Salon. “I’m getting hang-up calls, I’m getting some calls, I’m getting e-mails with, not direct threats, but accusations that I’m lying, that I’m a crisis actor, ‘How much am I being paid?' ”
The underlying theme in all the theories is that the media, the government, and Obama administration specifically either manipulated or orchestrated the shooting to move political opinion on gun control. In particular, a comprehensive truther video focuses on discrepancies in initial reporting about the number and types of guns used by Adam Lanza.
Conspiracy theories are often used as a way of deflecting blame, Professor Pasley says. “If you’re a gun owner, you don’t want it all blamed on your group. So you adopt a conspiracy theory that blames it on someone else,” he says.
Some truthers have questioned whether the shooting happened at all. On Dec. 20, James Tracy, a Florida Atlantic University tenured professor of communication, wrote a well-sourced blog post, and later gave media interviews, arguing that contradictions in initial reporting proved that the Sandy Hook shooting was simply a “made-for-television storyline.” He placed responsibility with the mass media, saying they blindly believed and reported what officials told them.
After public criticism of Professor Tracy and the university, he backpedaled a bit, insisting his blog post was simply a way to encourage news consumers to think critically. But he still implied he takes issue with the basic facts that were reported about the shooting.
Although other media outlets have reported the harassment of Rosen in detail, The Atlantic is one of the few news organizations to actually parse some of the theories and debunk them. It tackled the theory of a second shooter, reporting that a man whom police had initially pursued was most likely the father of a Sandy Hook student who was on the school grounds after the shooting.
Other media outlets, notably The New York Times, apologized for inaccurate reports when news of the shooting broke. Much of the “evidence” cited by conspiracy theorists is reporting that was later clarified.
While most observers unders
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Sandy Hook hoaxters
9/11 truthers
birthers
Apollo moon fakers
Ruby Ridgers
Waco whackos
Pirate News
Walking Dead viewers
Jerry Springer audiences
Lance Armstrong believers
etc. ect. etc.
These are some of the gene cesspoolers from which insane mass murderers arise. In the interest of public safety they should all be lobotomized or at least have their amygdalas removed.
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If the government didn't barefacedly LIE to Americans throughout the decades about stuff, the conspiracy theory nuts would have nothing to work with.
Just sayin'.
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That's every bit as valid as the Hooksters and their bullshit.
"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero
"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012
Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"
Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."
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Originally posted by chrisisall:
If the government didn't barefacedly LIE to Americans throughout the decades about stuff, the conspiracy theory nuts would have nothing to work with.
Just sayin'.
Unfortunately that's too close to home for any kinda comfort - what started it in this case was them very deliberately lying to create the impression that Lanza used an "Assault Rifle", when in truth it was left in the back seat of the vehicle, and this without a doubt provoked the conspiracy theorists, as did the admittedly suspicious timing of it after an earlier mass shooting attempt FAILED, due to said "Assault Rifle" malfunctioning, an armed civvie present, and a security response that for once did the job completely right.
What creates the mindset is when a person who has believed in the system comes up against something so mind-shattering that it blows the supports out from under their entire existence, the oh-god-what-else-did-they-lie-about effect, at which point their grip on sanity starts slipping, ESPECIALLY if this is then compounded by finding evidence of even more lies about things they once believed, and it can indeed spiral straight down into a form of mental illness, or at least near-permanent suspicion and mistrust...
The worst cases usually come about by not just having that event, but witnessing/participating in, something so heinous, so awful, that it has a downright lovecraftian effect on their sanity and personhood, which often presents itself as an active MALICE towards folks whom they secretly envy for their ignorant bliss - Alex Jones and Pirate News are good examples of this.
Of course, a different fate awaits those who knowingly plunge headfirst into darkness to wrestle the beast up close and personal, but the difference is in both intent and expectation, and in such a case usually the less nice/noble/decent a person is, the better they weather the experience, although no walks away from that unchanged.
Anyhows, the endless barrage of lies is in fact the source of these things, but the initial spark is usually a specific one, rather than the plethora, that just compounds the damage, is all.
-Frem
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Good one, Mike. Prize for first giggle of the day. And yes, it makes just as much sense.
There IS validity to the fact that we've been lied to so many times, and enough actual conspiracies have been discovered, that it's not surprising some people distrust anything and everything, and see conspiracies around every corner. But it takes people missing something important to go to the lengths some of these do, and to believe virtually EVERYTHING is a conspiracy!
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Well, darn - my favorite part of it didn't come along in the cut-n-paste of that pic. The guy who did it (Surly Thor) had the caption "Clever Girl..." on it, which just makes it more hilarious.
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Originally posted by Niki2:
There IS validity to the fact that we've been lied to so many times, and enough actual conspiracies have been discovered, that it's not surprising some people distrust anything and everything, and see conspiracies around every corner. But it takes people missing something important to go to the lengths some of these do, and to believe virtually EVERYTHING is a conspiracy!
Yeah, well, a large part of that is them feeling cut off and cast adrift, with nothing left to cling to *BUT* those beliefs, so they keep doubling down till they wind up like that... same way Rightwingnuts keep doubling down on obvious lies, cause they cannot admit the wrong without admission that they've based some portion of their entire life on a lie, the mindset just doesn't allow for it.
-F
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It's a good thing zero physical evidence has been presented to the public that any shooting took place, with zero eyewitnesses... Not even any video of the "evacuation" of students.
Dictator Hussein Obama uses Sandy Hook to ban guns for 50-million Americans, cops arrest "off-duty SWAT cop from another jurisdiction" hiding in woods at Sandy Hook School during "shooting"
http://piratenews-tv.blogspot.com/2013/01/sandy-hook-bans-guns-for-50-
million.html
Sandy Hook shooting predicted in Dark Knight Rises, Newtown is world HQ for Church of Satan
http://piratenews-tv.blogspot.com/2013/01/sandy-hook-bans-guns-for-50-
million.html
BREAKING NEWS: Sandy Hook Press Conference
http://piratenews-tv.blogspot.com/2013/01/sandy-hook-bans-guns-for-50-
million.html
Taft School Shooting "Drill" Goes Live With Real Shooting (just like Sandy Hook and 9/11 and 7/7)
http://memoryholeblog.com/2013/01/16/taft-union-high-school-drill-beco
mes-real-life/
www.crisisactors.org
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Originally posted by Kwicko:
Because she's a clever girl ?
"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil." - Socrates
" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "
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