Conspiracists turn to familiar pattern following the Uvalde school shooting

After the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on Wednesday, a familiar post-tragedy pattern followed: prayers for the families, debates around gun reform, and baseless theories being pushed by conspiracists. ISD’s head of Digital Analysis Unit, Melanie Smith, commented to Grid News about how the “chaos of a crisis is where conspiracy theories thrive.”

“There is so much confusion, and there is that lack of information that disinformation can take hold very, very quickly,” she said.

Following the tragedy, some conspiracy influencers have drawn on previous theories about false flag shootings, suggesting that the massacre was staged “opportunistically” around election time in order to bring about gun reform when the U.S. is in an “emotional state.”

Nineteen children were among the 21 dead at the Robb Elementary School shooting.