‘False Flag’ Theory on Pipe Bombs Zooms From Right-Wing Fringe to Mainstream

Just hours after the news broke that explosive devices had been sent to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats, a conspiracy theory began to take shape in certain corners of conservative media. The bombs, this theory went, were not actually part of a plot to harm Democrats, but were a “false flag” operation concocted by leftists in order to paint conservatives as violent radicals ahead of the elections. Soon the fact-free explanation had gelled: The bombs were props, planted by Democratic operatives and amplified by a biased liberal media. Conspiratorial thinking has been turbocharged in the Trump era, as cable news networks and pliant social media networks allow hastily assembled theories to spread to millions in an instant. Often, by the time the official, evidence-based explanation has taken shape, it has already been drowned out by a megaphonic chorus of cranks and attention-hungry partisans.