By Kiran Kishor Galani
While conspiracy theories have essentially become an ingrained part of our culture, the latest theories, that talk about Stephen Paddocks left-wing ties as the reason behind his Vegas shooting, have taken the game to another level.
The attack
It took Paddock approximately 10 minutes to carry out what appeared to be a meticulously planned terror attack. It resulted in the death of at least 58 people, leaving over 500 more injured. The gunman shot from the window of a 32nd-floor room of a hotel in Las Vegas. He fired at a crowd of over 22,000 people that had gathered for a country music concert featuring Jason Aldean as the headlining act.
Paddock has been said to have no criminal history, as well as no history of violence. It makes one wonder what caused him to snap and act out in such a manner. Since Paddock killed himself before the police could reach him and find out, there’s no sure shot way to explain his motives. A total of 47 guns were recovered from three different locations, including Paddocks hotel room and his two Nevada homes in Verdi and Mesquite. Authorities also found thousands of rounds of ammunition in his Mesquite home, as well as ingredients used for explosives in his car. His girlfriend, who was out of town at the time of the attacks, has come back to the States and has promised to cooperate with the authorities in order to get to the bottom of this mystery.
The conspiracy theories
Several right-wing and Republican websites immediately started talking about how the attack was probably orchestrated by left-wing and Antifa (anti-fascist) groups. They talked about how this gave left-wing activists an opportunity to further their stance on gun control and explained how they thought that Paddock was probably hired by one of these groups to help them make a point. While there is absolutely no proof supporting these claims, the theories are still going viral on various platforms, and the pages posting these theories are getting more traffic than theyve ever reported before.
This is a rather sad event because the attacks were tragic and caused the death of a number of people, and instead of working together to solve the mystery behind them, people seem to prefer to turn on each other and further complicate the matter. The social media sites further exacerbate the issue by ensuring that these pages get attention, as people share them rapidly. This crossfire must stop and people need to start respecting the dead by stopping the promotion of these unfounded conspiracy theories. They must start to look for truth in the matter.
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