One-fifth of Americans believe that school shootings are false flag operations.

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://slate.com/human-interest/2022/06/shooting-school-texas-uvalde-sandy-hook-conspiracy.html


This essay is adapted from the book Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth, by Elizabeth Williamson, published by Dutton.

Hours after the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead, it began.

“I’m sorry but I have to say it,” one poster wrote on a far-right message board. “We have to have another false flag shooting, killing small children.”

“Those directing false flags know the emotional response from the Buffalo shooting is wearing down for the sheep,” another person posted online. “So they did another one in Uvalde Texas to reinforce the response. Don’t be fooled. False Flag season is here.”

This script could have come from 10 years ago—and in fact, some of the same people spreading lies about Uvalde have been doing it for a decade. I have spent the past four years tracking the rise and spread of misinformation about a tragedy heartbreakingly similar to Uvalde: the Sandy Hook massacre. The haunting echoes between the two shootings don’t stop at the young victims.

The story of Lenny Pozner shows how these misinformation campaigns proceed. Two years after his son, Noah, 6, was murdered at Sandy Hook, Pozner started to receive chilling messages online. “I want to hear the ‘slaughter,’ and I won’t be satisfied until the caskets are opened,” one message read. “Prove to the world you’ve lost your son,” another demanded.

*snip*

[Lovie777]

1. Some of those 1/5 believe JFK will come back from the dead . . .

[tenderfoot]

2. I think school shootings are a conservative conspiracy to undermine Public Education

That's all.

[Haggard Celine]

5. That's a way I haven't thought of looking at that issue.

Damn, it's ringing some bells! I need to go off and think about that one.

[SunSeeker]

3. 20% of Americans are mentally ill.

https://www.nami.org/mhstats#:~:text=aged%2010%2D34-,You%20Are%20Not%20Alone,represents%201%20in%2020%20adults.

[blueknight73]

4. I honestly believe

The vast majority of " religious " people are mentally ill

[Docreed2003]

6. Read this article last night and still digesting the insanity

The woman in Tulsa that they highlight as an example of "Sandy Hook truthers" is totally unrepentant about her actions and unmoved, even in the face of evidence, that she could be wrong. She ruined her own life and her obsessions had broad ramifications for everyone around her. It's pretty clear this is a woman who had mental health issues prior to jumping down this rabbit hole. These people are no different than those who believe the Qanon nonsense. What's striking to me is that so many people could become bamboozled by these conspiracy theories.

[pecosbob]

7. Not surprising...one fifth of the U.S. population is too stupid to join the Army

[milestogo]

8. Please explain your comment.

[pecosbob]

10. Army I.Q. tests were developed to weed out recruits not capable of contributing to the effort

A significant percentage are incapable of performing simple tasks such as sweeping or mopping a floor properly without supervision. My comment regarding the actual percentage was an exaggeration, but the premise holds true. Accordingly, I wouldn't find it surprising if told that twenty percent of Americans believed that the Earth is flat.

[milestogo]

11. Actually, I read it as if people are stupid for not joining the army.

Thanks for explaining.

[OneGrassRoot]

9. On one hand, cultists won't be convinced...

by anything factual, only what feeds their delusions.

On the other hand, showing crime scene photos of these horrors, if not autopsy photos (for parents who may have the same thoughts as Emmett Till's mom), could shine a light on how delusional, dangerous and destructive the cultists are to those who, amazingly, still aren't paying attention and think everything is just partisan politics.

[Chainfire]

12. I suspect that many of that 1/5 of the population feels some personal guilt about the shootings

and they need someone else to blame the massacres on.

[roamer65]

13. Great question for sorting them out in the future when needed.

These deplorables are expendable, IMO.