Anderson Cooper investigates the way in which conspiracy theorists are questioning the facts of the horrific massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, harassing the families who lost children and even the man who sheltered 6 children who survived their teacher being killed in front of them.
The family of little Emilie Parker, who was killed on December 14th in Newtown, has had to take down her memorial page because of harassing comments.
Cooper notes that normally he wouldn’t validate these theories, except one of the men leading this charge is a professor at a public university in Florida who made his claims publicly, on his blog. He asked the professor to speak on the show, but he declined.
In another video, Cooper interviews the brother of a woman who was killed in the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting, who also endured harassment after his sister was killed. He explains that he actually even received death threats from people who claimed he was a crisis actor, hired by gun control advocates.
What do you think is the reason behind these conspiracy theories, and what is it that makes these conspiracy theorists feel justified in harassing the parents who are merely trying to survive the loss of their child?
How, as a society, can we help prevent harassment like this from occurring?
Conspiracy theories thrive on a number of bases. One is, there really are conspiracies. See, for example, the Reichstag thing. Another is that initial facts are pretty much always wrong in at least one important matter of fact. And cleaning that up, or finding it out after the media have gone on to other issues, looks like a coverup. Third, the question is what, exactly, is being conspired about. For liberals, finding conspiracies to restore racism and disadvantage blacks is as easy as getting up in the morning. See voter ID, opposing affirmative action, being appalled at Shawy Lo’s domestic… Read more »
What about the journalists who were shoving microphones into the faces of stunned survivors in the first days after the shooting? What about the news anchors who ghoulishly camped outside that school for a week to increase their ratings? wasn’t that a form of harassment, too? Why isn’t Cooper looking into that?
Anderson Cooper did talk about that, actually. But comparing news coverage with people creating sites that talk about how a a man’s little daughter isn’t dead, and that he looks like he is the devil, and having THAT site come up first when you google the dead child’s name because of the conspiracy theorists is HORRIBLE. I mean, horrible. And that you have to take down a tiny child’s memorial page because people are harassing you and calling a liar about your child’s DEATH? I mean, really? And even if you DO think they are equal, the truth is that… Read more »
All you need for a conspiracy is two or more people coming up with a plan together. So, yes, there is a conspiracy to limit the sale of guns. People are talking in private about it and in public about it right now. This means there is also a conspiracy to protect the sale of guns. Members of Congress are meeting in private right now to come up with plans on both sides, which is what legislators do, after all. These are all conspiracies. Are we expecting that when it comes to guns there are no collective plans out there,… Read more »
I’m not sure what the goal of the phone harassment is. Are the harassers thinking they’ll bully someone into confessing that it’s all just an act? “Yeah, you caught me, I never had a child. I’m just an actor paid by the anti-gun lobby.” Or maybe the approach is: “I’ll prove there aren’t any violent crazy people with guns by threatening you with my gun.” (Hmm….. Maybe the callers are the ones working for the anti-gun lobby by discrediting the pro-gun lobby. The FBI undermined the Black Panthers in the 1960’s using similar tactics.) The biggest liars are those people… Read more »
A lack of basic empathy for one’s fellow human beings is symptomatic of sociopathy. I can’t say I’m surprised to see gun fanatics displaying such behavior.