Parkland Survivor's QAnon Dad Believes Massacre Was a Hoax, Berates Him for 'Being Part of It'

[DonViejo]

By Aidan McLaughlin Jul 26th, 2021, 12:36 pm

A survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida said his father now thinks the massacre was a hoax.

The survivor of the 2018 shooting, who is now 18 years old, spoke to Vice after writing in a Reddit post that his father came to believe that shooting was a hoax after taking an interest in the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Vice did not disclose the identity of the survivor, who the outlet identified as Bill, and was “part of the final graduating class of survivors of the 2018 shooting” that killed 14 students and three school staff.

“I think my dad has gone fucking insane,” he wrote in the Reddit post. “It’s going way too far and I have trouble processing the last 5 months. He’s always been very conservative, but now QAnon has consumed his life to the point where it’s tearing our family apart along with my mental health.”

The survivor explained that in January his father watched a video of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) harassing David Hogg, and came to believe the conspiracy theory that the shooting was a hoax, carried out by “​​a radical commie actor,” in order to push gun control.

more
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/parkland-survivors-qanon-dad-believes-massacre-was-a-hoax-berates-him-for-being-part-of-it/

[Thomas Hurt]

1. Maybe time for him to wash his hands of dad, at least seriously distance himself.

Dad is political zombie, you aren't going to fix him. Damn shame though.

[chowder66]

11. The original article says he's basically doing that.

He has a place to go to in August.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnq84/im-a-parkland-shooting-survivor-qanon-convinced-my-dad-it-was-all-a-hoax

[3catwoman3]

2. How can this be? His own child went thru it...

…and he believes someone else? This is beyond “fucking insane.” I can’t even find an adjective.

[lagomorph777]

3. Horrifying. Qanuts need to be hospitalized, for the safety of everybody else.

[Celerity]

8. oh! QANUTS! I like that! I have been calling them QMAGAts for ages

[marble falls]

4. The fact this story originated with Vice makes me a bit skeptical.

[OneGrassRoot]

6. Actually, it originated on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/comments/onq9ig/i_survived_the_stoneman_douglas_school_shooting/

[DonViejo]

7. So go to Vice and read the articles and interview with the young man...

Read the full interview here.

[EllieBC]

5. Poor kid. Time to cut dad out.

Kids, you don’t need your parents if they are toxic. You don’t owe emotionally abusive parents anything. Walk away.

[Bristlecone]

9. This level of delusion is a sickness.

I’m starting to think subliminal messaging works and is at play. I just can’t wrap my head around any other cause for such insanity.

How can you disbelieve your own child’s experience and one that you yourself had to be deeply part of just a few short years ago. Brainwashing is my only explanation.

[mopinko]

10. trauma does weird things to people.

in this one case, i can accept that dad has second hand survivor's guilt.
not saying he does, just i can believe that.

cant put myself in the shoes of the survivor's parents any more than those who lost a child.

[chowder66]

13. Dad is super conservative and drinks per the original article.

Mom won't stand up to him.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnq84/im-a-parkland-shooting-survivor-qanon-convinced-my-dad-it-was-all-a-hoax

[csziggy]

12. The original Reddit post is in a subreddit /QAnonCasualities

r/QAnonCasualties
Have a friend or loved one taken in by QAnon? Look here for support, resources and a place to vent. Peruse old posts, settle in and relax. Learn to heal, deal and deprogram. Posts should relate to the direct experience of dealing with Q/adjacent folk. This can include posts with support, info or practical advice. Anyone can comment, but be substantive and in good faith.
https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/

If you want to read the original go here: https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/comments/onq9ig/i_survived_the_stoneman_douglas_school_shooting/

This being Reddit, yeah, the post could be fake. But the heartbreak sounds real.

[chowder66]

14. Vice who wrote the original article says they confirmed he is who he says he is.....

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnq84/im-a-parkland-shooting-survivor-qanon-convinced-my-dad-it-was-all-a-hoax

[csziggy]

15. Thank you - I didn't go to the Vice article

I looked it up on Reddit since I prefer going to the original source. Of course, Reddit is full of BS posts.

Poor kid. I hope he gets out on his own soon and goes no contact with his Dad.

[chowder66]

22. You're welcome and I wish the same...he says he'll be out in August. nt

[Hortensis]

16. Poor, poor kid. There are thousands of these stories now.

He does need to distance emotionally for self protection and as part of that work on understanding.

For him to just abandon his father and even cut him out of his life would be wrong, though, and potentially very harmful to himself as well as his father and others. So no to just walking away from both his own responsibilities and from what's supposed to be the family support everyone should have.

It's not true that QNuts can't become rational again, and most QVictims really want and need their parents and children back. What's more worth waiting, hoping, working for?

In any case, this son and father have many years ahead to fix this. Hopefully speaking out is a first step of many that will eventually bring these two together again.

[wryter2000]

17. Unbelievable

He believes that stupid woman over his own son?

[keithbvadu2]

18. What about all those funerals? Where are those 'fake' victims?

What about all those funerals?

Where are those 'fake' victims?

[OMGWTF]

19. Whoa! I thought my family was fked-up!

[OMGWTF]

20. Whoa! I thought my family was fked-up!

[Caliman73]

21. With respect to the First Amendment, something needs to be done about right wing propaganda.

I am not one for banning speech, but I do think that there is a difference between a person being able to stand on a soapbox (yes, I know it is antiquated) and speak out against the government, and for there to be a coordinated effort by a multinational media corporation and several other coordinated networks funded by billionaires, spreading known lies, with the intention of creating political divisions in which they can profit monetarily and maintain power in government.

I do not know what can be done. I know that because of the First Amendment, that the government cannot stop people from lying. But we need to do something.

This man did not turn against his own son, who was a victim of a traumatic, life altering event, on his own. Conservatives, prior to the advent of Fox News, right wing radio, and websites, were not this consistently mean and devoid of facts. To be sure, there were always major differences between liberals and conservatives in politics, but under Reagan and with the advent of right wing media, where we used to all get the same facts and argue about their implications and policy to address them, we are now living in almost completely separate worlds. Our world, in which facts and the scientific method are still valued, and theirs in which devotion to conservatism and cult like figures, is more important than anything, even family relationships.

Right wing propaganda is tearing this country apart.

[alphafemale]

23. Abandoning your own child for wackaQdoo

Very sad