By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
The soaring popularity of a discounted, right-wing conspiracy theory that claims last week’s Florida school shooting was an FBI plot was underscored Wednesday when YouTube’s top trending video featured a segment on the baseless allegations.
The video, originally posted in August, claimed that David Hogg, a survivor of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was an “actor,” not a classmate.
In the video, the 17-year-old was featured in an interview with the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles to discuss a dispute between a lifeguard and a swimmer.
The video, which received more than 200,000 views in about 12 hours, was copied and re-uploaded by a YouTube user named “mike m,” who wrote new caption: “DAVID HOGG THE ACTOR …”
Since the massacre that killed 17 people, the conspiracy theory has gained traction among Trump supporters and others on the far right who believe – or want you to believe – that the shooting was an FBI plot to seize power from Americans.
The video was removed by YouTube for violating its policy on bullying and harassment.
On CNN on Tuesday, Hogg disputed the outrageous claims.
“I’m not a crisis actor,” Hogg told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on “AC360” Tuesday. “I’m someone who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to be having to do that.”
He added, “I’m not acting on anybody’s behalf.”
