It hasn’t been a week & already conspiracy thinkers are raising the specter of Orlando being a “false flag” operation & are circulating videos they purport to be evidence the entire massacre was staged by actors.
If you trace the videos back to sources, inevitably you will end up on one of those libertarian FB sites that obsess about the Illuminati & 9/11 truth. The Illuminati stuff is classic libertarian conspiracy crap explaining how the world operates under the control of Jewish bankers. It does not distinguish itself from the theoretics of the Nazi holocaust & has no place in progressive political discussion.
Along with false flags claims are the unsubstantiated claims that Mateen & his father are CIA operatives. It’s even suggested Mateen the younger was associated with Mossad because he worked for an Israeli security company. You can’t just circulate scurrilous stuff because they’re juicy stories. It might be added, Israel is not behind every criminal act–a suspicion which derives from Jewish banker theoretics.
This rubbish is going viral & unfortunately showing up on my wall from those who are not vetting sources. If there is one thing committed political activists must take seriously, it is carefully doing the research, vetting sources, & not talking through their hats, or in worst cases, through their nether regions. That means not circulating unsubstantiated allegations, especially those that can harm or vilify someone. It means not being reckless about what can be known from what is wild-eyed speculation.
(If the false flag stuff shows up on my wall, it will be booted without further ado. I detest the stuff chiefly because it is so politically dishonest & has become politically debilitating.)