Parkland, Sandy Hook, Sutherland Springs – those three names will forever be associated with deadly mass shootings.

Except, of course, if you watch the likes of Alex Jones and you’re a fan of digging around on far-right conspiracy theory sites.

That used to be where you would find people talking about false flags – a covert and deceptive operation to create the appearance of a particular party or group being responsible for some activity – and crisis actors.

You know, crisis actors like David Hogg, who some nutters want you to believe is a hired actor working to further the anti-gun agenda.

In the old days you would find such conspiracy theories tucked away in the internet’s far-flung corners, but now they’re everywhere.

Heck, Donald Trump Jr. even likes such theories via his Twitter account, because anything’s better than facing the reality that your father is a horrible human being.

So how have these theories become so mainstream? VICE decided to take a closer look:

Over the past 10 years, a growing online community of conspiracy theorists and hoaxers known as “truthers” has come to question the official narratives behind every mass shooting that is heavily covered by the media. A common thread in these theories is the government’s role in staging the tragedy with the help of mainstream news, in order to manipulate the general population.

In this continuously recycled narrative, the death and destruction of the tragic event is faked, and victims and their families are “crisis actors,” who are performing a role in order to elicit sympathy that can then be used to advocate for new gun laws, or anti-terror surveillance that restricts Americans’ freedom. The commitment to these narratives has escalated to the point where victims are frequently harassed, mocked, and even threatened in retaliation for their supposed deception.

They spoke with some of these conspiracy theory fans, and those who help spread them across social media, and some of their footage is actually quite tough to watch.

Imagine standing in front of a father, whose daughter was murdered whilst at school, and telling him that his daughter dying was a political hoax?

There would be hell to pay, but perhaps you should just get stuck in yourself. A warning that there is some video from inside school shootings, and also some choice language:

It blows my mind that some people can have so little compassion, but then again we see that in action on the daily.

Now you know why an elected leader screaming fake news about everything he doesn’t like, and the mistrust that sows, is so dangerous to a functioning democracy.

[source:youtube]