Story by Alex Henderson •ALTERNET
A QAnon supporter outside a Donald Trump rally in Minneapolis in 2019
© provided by AlterNet
Brent Lee was once a far-right conspiracy theorist, obsessing over "the Illuminati" and claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were orchestrated by the United States' federal government. When terrorists bombed the London Tube in 2005 and killed 52 people, Lee believed that the U.K. government — led by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair at the time — was behind the attack.
But these days, according to journalist/author Amelia Gentleman, Lee is pushing back against the type of ridiculous conspiracy theories he once promoted.
In an article published by The Guardian on October 4, Gentleman notes that Lee is now "trying to help other conspiracy theorists to question their worldview" and "is disarmingly willing to admit that he got things spectacularly wrong."
Lee told The Guardian, "I'm ashamed of putting so many lies out there. I didn't mean to lie, I just had the wrong picture."
According to Gentleman, certain events led Lee to question his love of conspiracy theories.
One was Infowars host Alex Jones claiming that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre of 2012 was a false flag operation. Another was Pizzagate, which, in 2016, found conspiracy theorists making the ludicrous claim that a Washington, D.C. pizzeria — with the blessing of Hillary Clinton — was part of a child sex trafficking ring.
Lee told The Guardian he found Pizzagate "stupid," and he used his podcast to debunk it.
READ MORE: Why the threat of 'Trumpist violence' must not 'be discounted': political science professor
Gentleman describes Lee's approach to bringing conspiracy theorists back to reality as "empathetic" rather than confrontational.
Lee told the Guardian, "Most conspiracists want a better world. They think something bad has happened, and they want to expose it. I think if you can lean into that with them, and say, 'Yes, I understand why that would worry you, but perhaps it's not actually what's happening' — I think that’s a better way to approach it."
READ MORE:Pelosi attack video release leads to criticism of Musk, right-wingers who 'trafficked in homophobic conspiracy nonsense'
Read The Guardian's full report at this link.
Brent Lee was once a far-right conspiracy theorist, obsessing over "the Illuminati" and claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were orchestrated by the United States' federal government. When terrorists bombed the London Tube in 2005 and killed 52 people, Lee believed that the U.K. government — led by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair at the time — was behind the attack.
But these days, according to journalist/author Amelia Gentleman, Lee is pushing back against the type of ridiculous conspiracy theories he once promoted.
In an article published by The Guardian on October 4, Gentleman notes that Lee is now "trying to help other conspiracy theorists to question their worldview" and "is disarmingly willing to admit that he got things spectacularly wrong."
Lee told The Guardian, "I'm ashamed of putting so many lies out there. I didn't mean to lie, I just had the wrong picture."
According to Gentleman, certain events led Lee to question his love of conspiracy theories.
One was Infowars host Alex Jones claiming that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre of 2012 was a false flag operation. Another was Pizzagate, which, in 2016, found conspiracy theorists making the ludicrous claim that a Washington, D.C. pizzeria — with the blessing of Hillary Clinton — was part of a child sex trafficking ring.
Lee told The Guardian he found Pizzagate "stupid," and he used his podcast to debunk it.
READ MORE: Why the threat of 'Trumpist violence' must not 'be discounted': political science professor
Gentleman describes Lee's approach to bringing conspiracy theorists back to reality as "empathetic" rather than confrontational.
Lee told the Guardian, "Most conspiracists want a better world. They think something bad has happened, and they want to expose it. I think if you can lean into that with them, and say, 'Yes, I understand why that would worry you, but perhaps it's not actually what's happening' — I think that’s a better way to approach it."
READ MORE:Pelosi attack video release leads to criticism of Musk, right-wingers who 'trafficked in homophobic conspiracy nonsense'
Read The Guardian's full report at this link.
No comments:
Post a Comment