Parkland shooting survivor says their dad believes it was a hoax after QAnon 'consumed his life'


An anonymous survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting says their own father has been convinced it was a hoax and has even falsely accused them of "being part of it."
A Reddit user recently posted on the QAnonCasualties subreddit that they are a survivor of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, but that their dad believes it was a hoax and the QAnon conspiracy theory has "consumed his life." On Monday, Vice spoke with the author of the post and confirmed their identity as a survivor of the shooting, which left 17 people dead in 2018. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity and was referred to only as Bill, which isn't their real name.
"Back in January he saw the video of Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing David Hogg ([another] student) about the shooting being a false-flag operation, and while my dad was already into Q, he'd never gone down that particular rabbit hole and now he's convinced everything was a hoax and it breaks my f---ing heart," the Reddit post said.
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The user goes on to say that their father has directly claimed to them, "You're a real piece of work to be able to sit here and act like nothing ever happened if it wasn't a hoax. Shame on you for being part of it and putting your family through it too."
"Bill" told Vice that their last semester at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was already "difficult enough with Feb. 14 marking 3 years since the shooting," but the fact that "my dad thinks the absolute hell we went through, where nine of the victims were in our class, is a hoax" has made matters worse, and he explained he hasn't shared this with his classmates because it's not a "pain I want to put on them."
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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