14

David Hogg (of Parkland, an actual student) and Emma Gonzalez (of New York, a 30-year-old woman who shares the name of an actual Parkland student) have both been falsely accused of being fake crisis actors. [Example]

The Wikipedia article on crisis actors talks about the original use of the term for emergency drills, but explains:

Starting around 2012, the term was appropriated by conspiracy theorists in the United States who falsely claimed that mass shootings were staged, and victims and their families were being played by actors.

This is the use of the term intended here.

Has there ever been a legitimate case of anybody seeking to exaggerate or fake a school shooting or other mass shooting by falsely posing as a victim?

Oddthinking
  • 140,378
  • 46
  • 548
  • 638
Beanluc
  • 325
  • 1
  • 5
  • 16
    This seems unfalsifiable. How could we ever prove that the answer is no? – Oddthinking May 09 '18 at 01:46
  • 2
    It also seems a bit vague. Does [Clare Werbeloff](http://inthemix.junkee.com/its-been-7-years-since-the-chk-chk-boom-girl-sent-kings-cross-viral/143030)'s ad hoc fake witness report to a TV camera about a shooting count? – Oddthinking May 09 '18 at 01:51
  • We could answer more specific accusations of specific shootings being faked or specific people being crisis actors (eg something like [this](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/same-girl-crying-now-oregon/)), but as-is, the question seems overly broad. I also think that your question isn't really represented in the claim. All claims about crisis actors that I have read are about a large-scale conspiracy (organized by the government, the media, etc). But you seem to (also) be asking about individuals deciding on their own to exaggerate a real shooting, which makes the question even broader. – tim May 09 '18 at 09:33
  • 5
    @JasonR: A "conspiracy theory" does not mean it is wrong. That is begging the question. I am a conspiracy theorist when it comes to the 9/11 terrorist attacks - I believe at least 19 men linked to Al Qaeda conspired to fly four planes into buildings in the USA. – Oddthinking May 09 '18 at 13:46
  • 2
    If we can't investigate "have their ever..." claims then we should close as "too broad", and wait for a specific claim. – DJClayworth May 09 '18 at 20:02
  • I'll point out that paid actors are fairly common in insurance fraud cases. – Daniel R Hicks May 13 '18 at 13:49

1 Answers1

-6

There is this claim being made by The Guardian, in a Canadian election:

Doug Ford – the frontrunner in the race to become premier of Canada’s most populous province – has admitted that hired actors posed as supporters ahead of a high-profile debate, but denied his campaign was responsible for recruiting them.

“A local candidate made a decision to engage a casting agency. This was unnecessary and a mistake. It will not happen again,” said Ford’s spokeswoman, Melissa Lantsman, in a statement on Tuesday.

It's not clear whether this meets the definition of "crisis actor", however.

Daniel R Hicks
  • 5,550
  • 3
  • 36
  • 38
  • 9
    As far as I understood, the question is specifically about the context of *"school shooting or other mass shooting"*. – DevSolar May 09 '18 at 12:48
  • 3
    While this does not directly address the answer, this is (IMHO) the closest thing we're going to find to an actual crisis actor using the current definition of the word. – DenisS May 09 '18 at 14:48
  • 11
    This definitely does not answer the question. These are just actors, not crisis actors at all. – BobTheAverage May 09 '18 at 15:41
  • This answers the question about 'crisis actors'. I'm not sure that the OP's _example_ of crisis actors in a school shooting was meant to restrict the answer to only that type of crisis actors. – Ask About Monica May 11 '18 at 16:42
  • 2
    You could maybe say that the politician who hired these fake supporters is going to have a bit of a crisis with his career, but I don't see how you could even remotely say that these were "crisis actors". – IMSoP May 11 '18 at 23:47
  • The term "crisis actor" has no firm definition. The [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_actor) article originated two years ago, but I'd never heard the term until the Parkland shooting. (And note that the Wiki definition refers to actors in emergency drills.) – Daniel R Hicks May 12 '18 at 00:49
  • @DanielRHicks Sure, but even without the context of the examples in the question, you can take a guess at what "crisis" means; why would that adjective apply to an actor hired to cheer at a political rally? I agree that DevSolar is narrowing it down too far requiring a shooting specifically, but it's pretty obvious to me that "crisis actor" means "actor pretending to be part of a crisis". – IMSoP May 12 '18 at 11:54
  • @IMSoP - I think the most significant factor is that this is (presumably) a paid actor in a non-theatrical setting, such that the public does not know the actor is paid, and with the intent to influence political opinions. – Daniel R Hicks May 12 '18 at 17:55
  • The conspiracy theory being discussed is not about explicitly political events, though, it's about people pretending to be victims of crimes or disasters - that is, "crises". I still don't see how the term "crisis actor" is in any way ambiguous enough to broaden it this far; however scandalous paying for fake supporters at a rally might be, there is no "crisis" being enacted. You seem to just be inventing your own definition. – IMSoP May 12 '18 at 18:06
  • @IMSoP -- OK, so we'll have to take the Wiki definition: *a trained actor, role player, volunteer, or other person engaged to portray a disaster victim during emergency drills to train first responders such as police, firefighters or EMT personnel.* So someone pretending (to authorities and the press) to be a victim of a crime or disaster is not a "crisis actor'. – Daniel R Hicks May 12 '18 at 19:55
  • 5
    I'm not sure if you're being willfully obtuse, or genuinely don't understand the term. It seems really very simple to me: people pretending to be victims or bystanders in a crisis, either legitimately to train responders, or according to the claim *doing exactly the same thing* to create fake news. That is the claim we're addressing. – IMSoP May 12 '18 at 21:38
  • @IMSoP - So you don't think the US is in crisis, and average citizens at a political rally are apt to be victims? – Daniel R Hicks May 13 '18 at 12:27
  • Fine, have it your way, the word means whatever you want it to mean, so whatever news story you post proves your unique version of the claim, even though it has absolutely nothing in common with the scenarios mentioned in the question, or any published article by either the conspiracy theorists themselves or anyone else. – IMSoP May 13 '18 at 12:39
  • Oh, and the example in your answer is in Canada, so your clever wordplay about the US "being in crisis" is doubly irrelevant. – IMSoP May 13 '18 at 12:47
  • @IMSoP - The point is, the term is not at all well-defined. – Daniel R Hicks May 13 '18 at 13:10
  • 2
    We'll have to agree to disagree. The term - and, more importantly, the claim - seems perfectly clear to me. – IMSoP May 13 '18 at 13:15