![\"imrs.php\"](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/imrs.php_.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEvidence markers line San Bernardino Avenue where the attackers\u00a0were killed by law enforcement officers. (Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/h5>\n
An attorney for the family of one of the San Bernardino attackers cited\u00a0conspiracy theories surrounding another mass shooting in trying to cast doubt\u00a0on\u00a0accounts of this week\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of questions drawn with regard to Sandy Hook and whether or not that was a real incident or not,\u201d David Chesley, an attorney for the family of Syed Farook, said in a video uploaded<\/a>\u00a0Friday by the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n After that late 2012\u00a0shooting in Newtown, Conn., in\u00a0which\u00a027 people\u00a0were killed<\/a>, conspiracy theorists alleged\u00a0that the attack\u00a0was staged, perhaps as part of a plot to promote a gun control agenda \u2014 a sentiment Chesley appeared to echo in the video.<\/p>\n [False flags, true believers and trolls: Understanding conspiracy theories after tragedies<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of motivation at this time to emphasize or create incidents that will cause gun control or prejudice or hatred towards the Muslim community,\u201d\u00a0Chesley told reporters in the video.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we went\u00a0to our\u00a0questioning with the FBI, there were a lot of attempts to basically link this to online accounts or visits to the Middle East and every one of them just fell flat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Chesley made similar allegations on CNN this week.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that quite frankly don\u2019t add up or seem implausible.\u00a0\u2026\u00a0There\u2019s a lot of things that just don\u2019t make sense,\u201d he told CNN\u2019s Chris Cuomo<\/a>.<\/p>\n Conspiracy theories commonly spring up online\u00a0following\u00a0such tragedies, including after the Colorado Springs shooting last Friday. But\u00a0while the Internet facilitates\u00a0their\u00a0proliferation, it also\u00a0facilitates the response,\u00a0says\u00a0Joe Uscinski, co-author of the book \u201cAmerican Conspiracy Theories\u201d and an associate professor of political science at the University of Miami, where he chaired the Conference on Conspiracy Theories in March.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Internet acts both as the incubator for conspiracy theories, but it also acts as the antidote,\u201d he\u00a0said in a far-ranging interview<\/a> on conspiracy theories published Friday morning.<\/p>\n Continue reading at:\u00a0http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2015\/12\/04\/attorney-for-san-bernardino-attackers-family-floats-hoax-theory\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n