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Amanda J. Crawford

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    Media

    How conspiracy theories became more personal, more cruel and more mainstream after the Sandy Hook shootings

    Amanda J. Crawford
    December 20, 2021
    Remembering Sandy Hook

    The legacy of the Sandy Hook shootings in 2012 continues to reverberate nine years later, including in how conspiracy theories have changed since the tragedy.

    Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images

    Crawford is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Connecticut.

    Conspiracy theories are powerful forces in the United States. They have damaged public health amid a global pandemic, shaken faith in the democratic process and helped spark a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.

    These conspiracy theories are part of a dangerous misinformation crisis that has been building for years in the U.S.

    American politics has long had a paranoid streak, and belief in conspiracy theories is nothing new. But as the news cycle reminds us daily, outlandish conspiracy theories born on social media now regularly achieve mainstream acceptance and are echoed by people in power.

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