Boston Marathon Conspiracy Theories Even Being Spouted By the Government

Impact

Many of the reactions to the Boston Marathon bombings have been instantaneous. Sometime I felt as though my Facebook news feed knew the latest updates on the hot pursuit before CNN did. Maybe it's because so many people were deputized as news anchors to report on the latest events, but an extraordinarily wide range of conspiracy theories have been consistently emerging surrounding the bombing.

In fact, before even given people time to process the information, let alone mourn their losses, potential conspiracies were already circulating, often based on blurry photos and still-developing police investigations. Alex Jones, noted conspiracy theorist extraordinaire, tried valiantly to balance respecting those who suffered in the bombing and unveiling the obvious government cover up in 140 characters or less. On April 15, he tweeted "Our hearts go out to those who are hurt or killed #Boston marathon but this thing stinks to high heaven #falseflag." False flag is the label attached to covert military operations that are designed to appear as though the actions are being undertaken by someone else, usually another group or nation.

My favorite was the theory that Family Guy predicted the attack on the Boston Marathon. And a quick rundown of other theories include the following gems: Mossad was involved, a Saudi suspect was investigated but released, the principal killed in the Sandy Hook shooting was there, victims and witnesses were government plants, and of course, the usual the government knew it was going to happen. But the best part is, the stories aren't being spun by the traditional conspiracy hacks. It's the government who has turned against itself. New Hampshire State Representative Stella Temblay proclaimed, "The Boston Marathon was a Black Ops 'terrorist attack.' One suspect killed, the other one will be too before they even have a change to speak … Sad day, but a 'wake up' to all of us." She did in the most reliable fashion possible, by posting it to Glenn Beck’s Facebook page.

Is it because the events were so abhorrent, that we can't use rational thought to process them? Possibly. Imagining fanciful scenarios where there is some greater government cover-up is so much easier then dealing with the reality. It's easier to believe the whole thing was a "Black Ops 'terrorist attack.'" We witnessed and suffered an attack where 264 people were injured (a figure that weeks later, still seems to be rising every day) and three were killed. It can't be explained with the far-fetched theories that are being proposed. The motive is much more real, and much more human, and that is terrifying.