Conspiracy theorists were arrested at the site of the Sutherland Springs church shooting after harassing families and survivors with death threats and taunts about their loved ones, residents said. The case appears to be the latest example of viral online conspiracy theories leading to real-world harassment and abuse of gun violence victims and grieving families in the US. The situation resembles the attacks after the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, including conspiracy theorists sending death threats to parents whose children died. In 2016, a gunman motivated by a fake news story known as “Pizzagate” ended up firing his weapon inside a restaurant because of conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton and the pizza shop. “People are frightened,” said Green, adding that he hoped the conspiracy theories and harassment would not have a long-term impact on the town: “We’re recovering very strong.”

Source: The Guardian March 06, 2018 22:18 UTC