It was a cold Friday morning, December 14th, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza began his murder spree by killing his mother, Nancy. He then grabbed three firearms from the residence and left for Sandy Hook Elementary School. Adam armed himself with a semi-automatic AR-15 Bushmaster rifle and two semi-automatic handguns made by Glock and Sig Sauer. I am naming these firearms because the information will be relevant later.

Once he arrived at Sandy Hook, the doors were locked with a security upgrade that required visitors to be buzzed in. The gunman, as he was described at the time, shot his way through the door to gain entrance to the school. He then started by killing teachers and students in a kindergarten and first-grade class. Adam would end up killing 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7, as well as 6 adults. As officers approached, Adam turned the gun on himself.

The school shooting was a horrific event that shocked the nation. Debates about gun control, mental health, and the safety of schools were reignited. The aftermath of this tragedy also gave rise to one of the most persistent and controversial conspiracy theories of our time: the belief that the shooting was staged or fabricated.

The day following the tragic shooting, Robbie Parker, one of the parents of the young victims, stepped forward to speak publicly about the incident. Before he began, he offered a nervous half-laugh, which was captured on camera as he started to share his memories of his daughter. This moment, however, was repeatedly aired by Alex Jones, a far-right conservative and conspiracy theorist who runs a radio show and operates a website called InfoWars.

Jones would deny that the Sandy Hook shooting was real and spread information, claiming it was a massive government conspiracy aimed at infringing on the rights of gun owners. The types of guns used in the shooting were repeatedly featured in the media, which fueled this narrative and provided Jones with material to support his cause by labeling them as assault weapons. This was particularly significant following the recent reelection of President Obama and a fabricated plot suggesting the confiscation of Americans’ firearms.

Social media also plays a significant role in the spread of misinformation by quickly sharing unfounded claims and speculation from amateur investigators without proper fact-checking. These conspiracy theorists on social media often promote misinformation, claiming to have conducted years of research using public records and other accessible information. They highlight errors in reporting and react to the views of parents, further contributing to the confusion.

Alex Jones sells fear and the belief that there is order within the chaos to mostly uneducated people who already have a confirmation bias. His tactics and those of others like him use more advanced forms of persuasion, some of which can be found in “The Language of Persuasion.” I want to name a few, but I encourage you to check out the link and read more about the techniques for yourself.

The top three techniques I witnessed being used to persuade his followers are:

1. Cause vs. Correlation: This tactic persuades others to follow the idea that where there is smoke, there must be fire. Another way to explain this is by saying that using umbrellas during a rainstorm suggests that the umbrella caused the rain.
2. Diversion: Jones distracts us from a problem by introducing unrelated issues, convincing his viewers while concealing parts of the story to enhance his narrative.
3. Card Stacking: By selectively presenting specific information, Jones manipulates the narrative to support his argument.

The damage caused by the spread of misinformation, while not as prevalent in the media today regarding the Sandy Hook shootings, still persists. Even after InfoWars and Alex Jones have been sued multiple times for defamation—resulting in significant financial penalties to the families of the slain children—there are still people who believe it was a hoax and a conspiracy aimed at infringing on the Second Amendment rights of gun owners.

Families of Sandy Hook victims have actively campaigned for gun control and have publicly confronted conspiracy theorists. They have documented their experiences, participated in interviews, and pursued legal action against those spreading lies about them. This has garnered both sympathy and support on a larger scale but has also made them targets of retaliation by conspiracy theorists.

We can all agree that Sandy Hook was a deeply tragic event, and the circulation of misinformation has only added to that tragedy. The spread of misinformation has eroded public trust in the media and widened the divide during a time when we should be uniting as one within our families and communities.