How conspiracy theorists develop as BC man is targeted after Las Vegas shooting

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A BC man who survived the worst mass shooting in modern US history says he’s now facing a torrent of online abuse and harassment, forcing him to shut down his social media accounts.

Braden Matejka has gone public, speaking with several international news outlets where he lays bare the details of his ordeal.

The 30-year-old was celebrating his birthday in Las Vegas with his girlfriend when the country music festival they were at became a shooting gallery. Matejka was hit in the head by a bullet, but survived.

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Now back at home in the Okanagan, he says he’s once again become a victim — this time, of what he calls conspiracy theorists. “Your soul is disgusting and dark! You will pay for the consequences!” reads one Facebook post, a screenshot of which is shown in the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

There are several other similar comments, including death threats — “You are a lying piece of s— and I hope someone truly shoots you in the head,” reads another posting in the Guardian.

Some conspiracy theorists accuse him of being an actor, believing the US government faked the shooting so it could push an anti-gun agenda.

The bullying, taunting and graphic threats have also spread to his family and friends.

Other Vegas survivors have come forward saying they’ve suffered similar abuse.

On October 1, a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel over a crowd of concert-goers on the Las Vegas Strip. Fifty-nine people, including the gunman, died in the massacre. Nearly 500 others were hurt.

Where do conspiracy theorists come from?

Conspiracies, a variety of which emerge following major events, are often rooted in our own minds and poor reasoning, according to UBC Philosophy PHD candidate Madelaine Ransom.

“They’re rooted in mistakes and reasoning we all make. For instance, with confirmation bias, this occurs when you take some observations and interpret them in a way that confirms your pre-existing belief,” she said, adding this can be applied to the Las Vegas shooting. “So any new mass shooting will just confirm this conspiracy if that’s what you believe.”

Ransom is running a course on critical thinking at the university to help people root out bad arguments and logical fallacies. She said confirmation bias is not just something for conspiracy theories, and many of us can fall for it in our daily lives.

She said people want to believe certain ideas and conspiracies because they are closely tied to their deep-rooted beliefs, sense of self, and how they perceive the world, no matter what their ideological leanings.

“We want to believe things because these beliefs are closely linked to our identities. Our political identities as left or right wing, these are some central factors that make up who we are,” Ransom said.

Ideas we have held for many years or were raised on shape our views of the world and help us navigate through good and bad times. Because we believe these ideas are what keep us safe, we are reluctant to give them up, even when presented with new and better information, because of our fear of the unknown and the disappointment of being wrong. People are then more likely to dig in their heels and defend their ideas even more strongly when challenged.

“Conspiracy theorists, in their ideal form, have formed a perfectly coherent web of beliefs and they have an explanation for everything, but usually in practice they don’t have a perfectly coherent web of beliefs. There are inconsistencies somewhere and the problem is that pointing out these inconsistencies usually doesn’t cause people to abandon their belief because of this problem of confirmation bias.”

The best way to generate productive dialogue with individuals who of opposing viewpoints or broken logic is to find something you can agree one, Ransom said.