# How do we "fix" people who question mass shootings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 7, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690 "2015-12-07T08:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BelieveWhatYourTold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce7236/32.png) [@BelieveWhatYourTold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BelieveWhatYourTold)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/1 "2015-12-07T08:39:39Z")
Hello fellow citizens, It has come to my attention that there is a growing community of unemployed adults who likely still live with their parents spending their days and nights thinking up every conceivable argument to lay doubt on something as concrete and well proven like the identities of the San Bernardino shootings. I wish to present one case study of their twisted logic and I wish to discuss how we can possibly fix these people so that they no longer believe such silly nonsense. Or at the very least, how we can contain their hate speech which is offensive to all good Americans and especially to the victims’ loved ones. The current _hot_ debate in [their circles](http://reddit.com/r/conspiracy) revolves around two eyewitness testimonies which they are desperately seeking to use as evidence to contradict the “official story” of the San Bernardino massacre. If I may, I wish to post the transcript of the two videos and links to said videos: **[Witness 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwTYja7GXcY)**([video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwTYja7GXcY)) > [@](#): > > Scott Pelley: One of the witnesses today is \_\_\_\_\_, who works at the Inland Regional Center, the building where the attack took place. She saw the attackers enter the building and we spoke to her by phone. > > Witness: I heard umm shots fired and it was you know from an automatic weapon so you know it was very unusual… why, you know why would we hear shots? As we look out the window a second set of shots goes off, and its just pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop and we saw a man fall to the floor. Then **we just looked and we saw three men dressed in all black military attire with vests on they were holding assault rifles** and they (breathes) as soon as they opened the door to building three and one of them opened up the door to building three he started to spray shoot, you know shoot all over into the room, that’s the room that we typically have conferences in, and we just heard more gun shots go off. > I got my phone. I reached for my phone. I called 911 and I just hid under my desk. I didn’t see anymore, I just heard more gunshots go off as I was talking to the dispatch. We went into my manager’s office, locked the door, barricaded it. We heard running and things happening upstairs. About 30 minutes later someone came to the door, knocked on the door. But we didn’t obviously answer. Then another 60 minutes later someone came and took us into a secure room. > > Scott Pelley: Ms. \_\_\_\_ can you describe to me in as much detail as you can, what did the gunmen look like? > > Witness: I couldn’t see his face, he had a black hat on and from my view all I could see was a black hat and black long sleeve shirt, possibly gloves on. Ummm… he had black cargo pants on the kind with the zippers on the side and the big puffy pockets. He had a huge assault rifle and he had extra ammo. He was coming ready for, he was coming ready for something. To reload I don’t know. He had [inaudible] magazines. Umm… I couldn’t see what else, I just saw three dressed exactly the same. > > Scott Pelley: **You’re certain that you saw three men?** > > Witness: **Yes, it looked like their skin color was yeah, was white. They looked like they were athletic build and umm… they appeared to be tall.** **[Witness 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s45OeXNRZng)**([video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s45OeXNRZng)) > [@](#): > > Witness: **Where I was at right here we seen there were three white men in military fatigues, um taking off.** ([video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s45OeXNRZng)) > > Q: What were they driving? > > Witness: What was it like a… like a black impala… SUV…SUV… or yeah… > > Q: **Do you think that they might have been the shooters?** > > Witness: [size=“3”] **Yeah, the way they were driving…yeah** [/size} > > Q: And how many shots did you hear?" > > Witness: Oh, a lot, it was a lot, it sounded like I said it sounded like a gun range just shots going off. It was crazy. It was a lot. A lot of shots. They have further claimed that these are the only two first hand accounts of the shooters that were broadcast on live tv. Now, I know what you’re thinking… “eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable” and intelligent folks like you and I get that, but these uneducated brutes do not. How else can we convince them of the obvious truth here? Which is that two distinct eyewitness accounts that correspond nearly exactly is absolutely **MEANINGLESS** in the larger scope of things. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/2 "2015-12-07T08:56:51Z")
Oh, I thought you were talking about Alex Jones claiming that Sandy Hook was a government plot to ban guns. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/3 "2015-12-07T09:29:11Z")
> [@BelieveWhatYourTold](#): > > Which is that two distinct eyewitness accounts that correspond nearly exactly is absolutely **MEANINGLESS** in the larger scope of things. Wait, what? So the OP is rhetorical…you’re saying you question the official account of the San Bernardino shootings, via sarcasm? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/4 "2015-12-07T09:32:23Z")
Did you intentionally misspell your username? If so, dude, I get it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/5 "2015-12-07T09:39:30Z")
> [@BelieveWhatYourTold](#): > > community of unemployed adults who likely still live with their parents Find them jobs? And/or persuade their parents to stop supporting these deadbeats? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/6 "2015-12-07T09:59:33Z")
> [@BelieveWhatYourTold](#): > > I wish to discuss how we can possibly fix these people so that they no longer believe such silly nonsense. Personally, I’d opt for a rusty pipe wrench. :rolleyes: EDIT: Oh, wait, that’s probably not what you mean by “fix”… ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/7 "2015-12-07T11:56:10Z")
Referring to people as “uneducated brutes” and “unemployed adults who likely still live with their parents” isn’t really the best way to start a serious conversation. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/8 "2015-12-07T14:34:47Z")
What happens if you do “fix” these people, and they end up having children anyway. Could they sue for child support? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/9 "2015-12-07T15:00:36Z")
How about “fix”-ing your user name before complaining about how wrong others are? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/10 "2015-12-07T15:15:18Z")
Yeesh, if there is a thing many conspiracy theorists constantly forget is that human memory is not reliable. > **[Why Science Tells Us Not to Rely on Eyewitness Accounts](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-the-eyes-have-it/)** > > Eyewitness testimony is fickle and, all too often, shockingly inaccurate > [@](#): > > Why Science Tells Us Not to Rely on Eyewitness Accounts > > Eyewitness testimony is fickle and, all too often, shockingly inaccurate > [@](#): > > Many researchers have created false memories in normal individuals; what is more, many of these subjects are certain that the memories are real. In one well-known study, Loftus and her colleague Jacqueline Pickrell gave subjects written accounts of four events, three of which they had actually experienced. The fourth story was fiction; it centered on the subject being lost in a mall or another public place when he or she was between four and six years old. A relative provided realistic details for the false story, such as a description of the mall at which the subjects parents shopped. After reading each story, subjects were asked to write down what else they remembered about the incident or to indicate that they did not remember it at all. Remarkably about one third of the subjects reported partially or fully remembering the false event. In two follow-up interviews, 25 percent still claimed that they remembered the untrue story, a figure consistent with the findings of similar studies. Just like Trump thinking\* that he saw lots of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the 9/11 attack when no such thing took place. Misunderstandings and early reports can influence what many later claim to had happened for sure. - If one can not fix people like Trump there is not much one can do but ignore their pigheadedness unless we are considering him to become a member of a jury. Or a president. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/11 "2015-12-07T15:21:15Z")
You can’t fix stupid. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/12 "2015-12-07T20:56:02Z")
We should swoop in with UN troops and black helicopters and take them away. Is that what you’re looking for? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/13 "2015-12-07T21:01:19Z")
Edit: NM, read the whole thread ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/14 "2015-12-08T00:42:00Z")
You know I heard a guy the other day saying that he saw a couple men with swastikas on their jackets in the Reichstag and they really smelled like gasoline or something. Fucking moron. Everyone knows it was the damn commies. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/15 "2015-12-08T03:12:01Z")
We are fixing them. It’s just taking longer than we thought. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/16 "2015-12-08T03:40:19Z")
I stayed in our parents’ house until I got married at 36. Besides that, I was already an independent adult almost right after graduation, and my career forced me to live alone away from family for a number of years. So what other evidence do we have, aside from those two uhm-heads? And evidence for what? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/17 "2015-12-08T04:26:40Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Oh, I thought you were talking about Alex Jones claiming that Sandy Hook was a government plot to ban guns. The sister of the murdered Sandy Hook teacher is getting death threats (as well as threats to her husband and kids) because the Jones types are positive that she’s an actor who shows up at every shooting in every part of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/18 "2015-12-08T10:41:00Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > You know I heard a guy the other day saying that he saw a couple men with swastikas on their jackets in the Reichstag and they really smelled like gasoline or something. > > Fucking moron. Everyone knows it was the damn commies. Are you suggesting the fire was a Nazi conspiracy? _points and laughs_ ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-fix-people-who-question-mass-shootings/739690/19 "2015-12-08T23:24:03Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **BWYT!** I’m sorry about the behavior of others in this thread. It’s a shame how many people who think they’re clever are proudly closed-minded. Is there eyewitness testimony that the San Bernardino shootings were by someone different? That’s interesting.