Gun-Loving Conspiracy Theorists Stalk Tucson Massacre Victims-Accuse Them Of Lying For Government

Some conspiracy Web sites are claiming that the shootings that nearly killed Representative Gabrielle Giffords and did end the lives of a federal judge, a 9-year-old girl and four others never actually took place. One particularly bizarre site, run by a Texas man, says it was all a government hoax that used actors.

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...One shooting victim said he notified the F.B.I. recently after two men showed up at his Tucson home claiming to be investigators and saying they were trying to determine whether the shooting was a hoax.

“They tried to get into my home,” said the victim, who asked that he not be identified because it might attract more such visitors. “They wanted to know if I had any pictures. They said they didn’t believe the event took place.”

The victim said that when he pressed the visitors for identification, one of them presented a business card that listed the Texas conspiracy site, which describes the shooting as an exercise conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. Other people connected to the case, including hospital personnel, victims’ relatives and possible trial witnesses, have received similar visits or seen their images on the Web site, officials said.

MORE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/us/25tucson.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2011/5/25/11653/2924

We have the "never went to the moon", "Bush perpetrated 9/11", and "everyone but Oswald killed JFK" conspiracies.
They get this one as well as "Obama not a US citizen" and others.
What do they all have in common?
They're all wacky and not supportable by actual evidence.

While many liberals believe 9/11 was an inside job it's biggest supporter is conservative libertarian Alex Jones,it is often used to scare people about big government also a lot of white supremacists think it was an inside job but ordered by the Jews.
The Moon landing conspiracy doesn't seem to have any left or right leanings.
Only the JFK conspiracy could be considered left wing of the three.

But plenty and plenty of posts here believing in the conspiracies I listed.
And 9/11 is most certainly embraced more by the left.
Probably cuz Bush was in office at the time.
If Clinton was, it would probably skew right.

It's not as stupid as this conspiracy theory, but it's pretty close.

in life, it is not hard to see why paranoia might come into play....

Sad, very sad. And frightening, frankly.

The trick, I suppose, is to figure out when these CTers represent something worth paying attention to, and when they might (rarely, and not in this case) be on to something...

There are some days when it hurts to be a thinking, semi-rational human being. Sadly, a site that I like to check for UFO sightings and information had some of the same type of speculating going on after the shootings in its political areas. Huge long posts from people proving that the police mug photos of the alleged shooter were faked. Elaborate analysis of the guns and ammo used during the shooting to demonstrate that the alleged shooter could not have gotten off the number of shots claimed by the government. And of course impassioned arguments on what roles conservative talking heads may have played in allowing an atmosphere to develop that encouraged the actions of the alleged shooter. All became quiet when it was learned that the alleged shooter had actually posted on the site several times. But still this Texas web site owner sounds like a POS.

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And they should be arrested. Claiming to be law enforcement is a crime. As is harassing people.

law enforcement. As obnoxious as the behavior described in the OP is, I can't see anything there that rises to the levels of lawsuit- or arrest-worthy. I'd prefer that idiots like this be exposed, but I'm pretty leery of squashing them legally without much stronger cause...

yup

Perhaps, in a more sane era, I might pity them their ignorance. But, given today's political environment, I'm fresh out of pity for the ignorant and gullible among us.

The current reality is that these conspiracy theorists are dangerous. Believing a conspiracy theory is one thing. Acting on it is another.

For the most part, these are ignorant people that are daily filled with the hatred peddled by Fox "news," Limbaugh, et al. And it's impossible to know just how much hatred it will take to push someone over the line into actions as opposed to words.

If someone, "The victim said that when he pressed the visitors for identification, one of them presented a business card that listed the Texas conspiracy site,..." gets something like this, take it, shut the door in their faces and call law enforcement. What this is is harassment plain and simple. No one has a right to come to your door and "demand" proof of anything w/o a warrant issued by a court. Better yet, get license plate #'s, descriptions and have them arrested for trespassing. They can also be arrested for claiming to be "investigators". Under what "authority" are they investigators?

Would be kind of nice to have the police pull one of these idiots over and find a small arsenal of unregistered weapons in the trunk...:evilgrin:

After all, having him go to trial would look really bad for the right. The defense would be sure to play up all the hate being spewed over the airwaves.

in the New York Times link.

The second link says only:

"And all you right wing gun nuts here's my message to you: stop with the false allegations and outright lies that Obama is secretly planning to confiscate your guns. You have nothing, no evidence, to back up that ridiculous claim. Yet some of your loonier brethren (and most of you who push this claim are looney enough as it is) took you seriously enough to concoct this fantasy that Homeland Security perpetrated a hoax on the American people merely to justify the seizure of your precious guns. Well it ain't true and you have no evidence to prove it, even fake evidence. "

Interestingly enough none of the gun owners I know have never bought into the 911 conspiracy theories and none have stated that the Tucson Massacre was a hoax. I'm sure some people who are enthusiastic about shooting will buy into conspiracy theories but other people who have no interest in firearms will also believe such theories. While it is true that many gun owners suspect that Obama plans draconian control and I often have arguments with them I don't believe that is at all fair to accuse gun owners as the creators of this conspiracy theory.

A quick search on Google didn't cause the site to pop up so it can't be very popular and therefore I am unable to figure out whether the publishers of the site are gun owners.

You can change my mind by presenting solid evidence that gun owners are indeed responsible for this idiotic theory but even then I will point out that I have seen no mainstream sites that gun owners haunt pandering to this bullshit.

Here on DU, we have a sub forum for conspiracy theories called the September 11 forum. I'm sure some Democrats post really strange theories there but would it be fair to accuse all Democrats of believing or creating such theories.

These people are just real Patriots with important questions! You always believe the Guvmint?

:sarcasm:

It's one thing to discuss stuff with people who have a coherent attitude, especially if there's some chance of learning something from them or mebbe changin their minds

But the wackos? Meh. Smile and nod and back away slowly ...