 This next story is really sad to hear because it shows you not only the dangers of conspiracy theories and how it makes people lose touch With reality what's empirical what's verifiable, but on top of that It speaks to the impact that this has on the loved ones of people who be consumed who become consumed rather by conspiracy theories And we're gonna dive into the article, but first I just want to read you the headline because it says a lot so this is from vice news and The title is I'm a Parkland shooting survivor QAnon convinced my dad. It was all a hoax I don't know how to help someone that far gone Wow that is a hell of a title and It wasn't always this way for this individual Their father was initially very supportive, so the shooter wore burgundy shirt burgundy shirt, so They explained how their father would avoid wearing burgundy because he knew how triggering this was After the shooting, but all of a sudden he joined QAnon and This cult convinced him that his own son was lying to him and it's not Some like innocent. Oh, well, you know my son wasn't part of the plot He wasn't part of the conspiracy theory. No, he literally thinks his own son Was a crisis actor This is deeply depressing, but nonetheless, let's get into the story here So David Gilbert writes Bill's final semester at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was already difficult enough He was part of the final graduating class of survivors of the 2018 shooting And they all had just marked the third anniversary of the day 17 people were killed nine of whom were Bill's classmates But Bill also had to deal with his father's daily Accusations that the shooting was a hoax and that the shooter Bill and all his classmates were paid pawns in a grand Conspiracy orchestrated by some shadowy force Bill had worked hard to get over his survivor's guilt after the shooting But for the past five months his own father has been triggering it all over again He'll say stuff like this straight to my face whenever he's drinking You're a real piece of work to be able to sit here and act like nothing ever happened if it wasn't a hoax Shame on you for being part of it and putting your family through it, too Bill said in an anonymous post on Reddit last week now Bill isn't his real name Bill is just a moniker that he's using to protect his own identity But he did make a post in Human on casualties. This is a subreddit that is really fascinating to me and Vice did verify that this was in fact a true story. This is a Parkland survivor So the question is like what happened? How did his father go from being supportive? To thinking that his own child who survived a mass shooting was a crisis actor Well, he Started to get radicalized during the pandemic Bill explains that he was very anti-mask against lockdowns So he you know spoke with like-minded people online social media and that's how he was introduced to QAnon he started to go further and further down the QAnon rabbit hole and He began to question the legitimacy of the Shooting that his son was part of after he saw one video in particular the video in question this David, why are you supporting the red flag laws? Scott Peterson the resource officer at Parkland had done his job Then Nicholas Cruz wouldn't have killed anybody in your high school or at least protected them Why are you supporting red flag gun laws that attack our Second Amendment rights? And why are you using kids to get to as a barrier? He has nothing to say because there really isn't anything to say you guys He has nothing to say because he's paid to do this. He has the walk-away march He's got the He's got the women's March and they're funding all of this every town gun USA. They're funding all this stuff, okay? That was David Hogue right there David We saw him inside the Senate building. He had 30 30 Appointments where you ran around and got to talk to senators. I got to talk to none none He had media coverage all over the place. I had zero. Guess what? I'm a gun owner I'm an American citizen and I have nothing but this guy with his George Soros funding And his major liberal funding has got everything. I want you to think about that. That's where we are and he's a coward He can't say one word because he can't defend his stance Because there is no defense for taking away guns. There is no defense for gun confiscation zero And so there he goes. He just keeps walking with his with his two Ladies that probably work with him. Maybe it's handlers. Maybe it's handlers. Absolutely. They're telling him Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing another Parkland survivor is the reason why a Different Parkland survivors father began to think that his own son was a liar and a crisis actor It's just deeply deeply disturbing and sad quite frankly now in that video Marjorie Greene doesn't explicitly say That the Parkland shooting was a false flag. I'm sure that she thinks that to herself But regardless the things that she says I mean if you're already part of QAnon and she's a fellow QAnon member And you're already prone to conspiratorial thinking the things that she says Obviously are going to lead you to this false conclusion that it was all staged, right? So, you know, she accused David Hogg in that video of Having a lobby getting paid for his advocacy meaning he's an actor, right? This is an accusation lobbed against leftist all the time by right-wingers who just don't like the protest that they see But I mean if you think that somebody is getting paid and there's a political agenda and that this is all Applied by David Hogg to take away people's guns as Marjorie Greene suggested then, you know This other QAnon member who probably respected Marjorie Greene thought oh well If this is just a play to take guns then obviously it was a false flag and since I am now concluding It was a false flag my own son had to be in on it I mean the most charitable I could be in this situation is that this individual was duped into thinking It was a false flag and that his son wasn't in on it But he literally thinks that his son was in on it like if you're a parent you you you usually go out of your way To defend your children. There's cognitive dissonance in every single parent's mind I thought that their kids ever do anything wrong So it's Absurd to me that he was that far gone that he literally Instinctively thought no my son's definitely a crisis actor It's not that he was part of this false flag by accident and he wasn't in on it But everyone else was no he literally thinks his son is a liar after he survived a mass shooting in high school that is just so Awful and unfathomably Sad like I can't imagine what bill is going through So there's a little bit more details here ever since then then being him watching that video Bill's father has become convinced the shooting his son survived was a so-called false flag event And that the shooter was a radical commie actor from there It snowballed into what he is today believing that if the government is able to overthrow an election that everything else Is probably a lie too bill added bill is 18 and now that he's graduated high school He's looking to get out of the toxic situation. He finds himself in I do have options that can have me out before August which as of now I'm planning to do bill said I've been delaying it because I felt stuck trying to fix my dad bill says his relationship with his mother has also suffered The relationship with my mom is dependent on whether my dad is there or not because then it's pretty much all about conspiracy theories Bill told vice news the relationship used to be fine But is deteriorating quickly especially after telling her that if she doesn't start putting her foot down I'm leaving with no interest in seeing my dad again But despite the threats to leave home bill's mother has not stood up to his dad at this point Bill has little hope and ever seeing his father return to the person He was before he became obsessed with Q and on conspiracy theories And even if he did too much has happened to ever repair their relationship He'll never stop on his own because there are always new theories and goalposts being moved bill said I don't know how to help someone that far gone. My guess is restricted access to the internet and lots of therapy But even if there was hope he'd eventually snap out of it It wouldn't change my mind on never wanting to see him again. So it doesn't really matter anymore I mean, I don't know what to say the story is so Incredibly tragic and I feel so bad for bill because I mean life is already hard enough when you're going through high school You're 18 you're graduating. There's a lot that you have to deal with you know You're developing into an adult and you know, you're you're Readying yourself to get out into the world. It's a scary place and then a shooting happens and then your own father becomes a Conspiracy theorist and denies that you experienced What you did? It's just it's so sad and Another element of the story that I didn't get to is that he doesn't feel like he's able to speak with his fellow Parkland classmates because The thought that their experience that they all collectively dealt with was a false flag to them is too traumatic It would trigger their PTSD and he doesn't want to do that So he holds it all in and doesn't tell anyone which is why he went to the QAnon casualty subreddit because he doesn't have anyone To talk to his mom won't do anything He doesn't want to talk to his classmates because you know, that's gonna be triggering to them and their PTSD To hear that and so he holds it all in and just as miserable Wow Wow So I mean if anyone tells you that QAnon is not serious or isn't a threat QAnon is a conspiracy theory that ruins lives It tears families apart and I've talked about it on this program And I'm gonna continue to talk about it because I want people to understand that if they're able to reach One of their loved ones before they get too deep into that rabbit hole They've got to try do everything in your power to stop it Because if you don't it might be too late and they might become too far gone like his father does think that He's too far gone and even though, you know, his son doesn't want anything to do with him He believes the people online these Q cultists more than his own child that it's not only pathetic, but just It's depressing and sad. I feel so bad for Bill