Gun Massacres Provoke Conspiracy Theories

For every gun massacre there's an inevitable conspiracy theory to muddy the waters. In one short week, a provocative YouTube video, “The Sandy Hook Shooting—Fully Exposed” has been viewed more than 10 million times. With somber music and text, the video allegedly “proves” that the massacre in Newtown, Conn.—which killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School—was carried out by the government. Nicknamed the Sandy Hook Truther movement, it is a familiar story that pro-gun activists love to tell, claiming that socially inept “loners” who open fire on the public have been “programmed by the government.”