The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a false flag as a “hostile or harmful action(such as an attack) that is designed to look like it was perpetrated by someone other than the person or group responsible for it.” This term is chiefly applied to things like school shooting incidents and attempts at mass violence. Believing these things are said to be “educated inferences” by those in the conspiracy theory community. But is it really an inference? Or is it a guise for ignorance? One prominent rotting sore in the theory community is Alex Jones, a conservative radio host and founder of the Alex Jones Show. The man had been in deep water for his comments on other “controversial” topics, but his most noted one is his opinion on the Sandy Hook Incident. For added context, the Sandy Hook Incident, according to Brittanica, was a mass shooting in December of 2012, located in Newton, Connecticut. The incident transpired in Sandy Hook Elementary, at the hand of Adam Lanza, an alum of said elementary school. Prior to ending the lives of multiple innocent children, Lanza took his mother’s life after purchasing a firearm, starting the trend of destruction. Taking his mother’s car to his old elementary school, it is unclear what had been running through the 20 year old’s mind. When he arrived, the principal and psychologist of Sandy Hook, leaving the two of them deceased at the door. Going to a classroom led by Lauren Rousseau, Adam claimed the lives of both the instructor and 14 children, moving onto his next target. Entering in a first grade class, instructed by Victoria Soto, the teacher hid her children and attempted to divert the man from the students by trying to deceive him, telling Lanza that her kids were located in the school’s auditorium. Lanza unfortunately shot both the teacher and six students who desperately tried to escape. A special education aide and school therapist were also shot. The man claimed 26 lives that day, one of them including himself.
Now..That was a lot to unpack. But that graphic retelling is only the beginning of the meat of this course. After the incident, a multiple of theoretic buzz manifested. Alex Jones, a popular conspiracy theorist who gained over $76 million through sharing his eccentric conspiracy theories, whether playful or potentially disrespectful. His most prominent example being about the aforementioned Sandy Hook Incident. The man had spoken proudly before about school shootings like Sandy Hook on multiple occasions, spewing webs of lies like “My gut is, with the timing and everything that happened, this is staged. And you know I’ve been saying the last few months, get ready for big mass shootings, and then magically, it happens.” Attempt to partially put yourself in the shoes of the families of Lanza’s victims. You’re scrolling through YouTube and you spot a video by Alex Jones. You watch a bit, and the man says that your child’s death was fake. It was all a ruse, your deceased child was an actor for some government operated play. How would that feel? Despairing, right? Well, imagine what the actual families felt like. However, the relatives of the victims did not stay silent, and rightfully so. Cases in Texas and Connecticut sprouted, causing the families desiring $1.5 billion in assets. In the Texas case, Alex swallowed his pride and actually admitted that the incident was “100 percent real.” and that it was “absolutely irresponsible to claim it was faked, and rightfully so.
Although he “apologized” for his hateful speech, Alex birthed a web of deceit around the conspiracy community. What he said was absolutely false due to police records, court records, census logs, etc. But this incident may have caused more violent speech onto school shooting victims, like the Santa Fe incident. They may even write about their thoughts too. But remember, before believing what you think is true on the internet: breathe, reset, and check the credibility.
Daniel Thomas – University of Chicago Lab School – DMSF Class of 2028
Photo by Alex Shupper