On Wednesday, the butterfly sanctuary closed again — this time, indefinitely — due to safety concerns for staff and the public.
The false trafficking rumors around the National Butterfly Center echo “Pizzagate,” a 2016 conspiracy theory that claimed a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant was the site of a child abuse ring led by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Pizzagate made headlines when a man fired a gun at the restaurant based on the false information.
QAnon, a far-right political conspiracy and movement, emerged shortly after in 2017 and falsely claimed a child sex trafficking ring conspired against Trump. Once limited to fringe platforms, QAnon conspiracy theorists have flooded mainstream social networks and have been accused of plotting or carrying out violent crimes. They were also among the mob of Trump supporters that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The FBI has identified the movement as a domestic terrorism threat.
“It’s incredibly distressing that the United States has come to the point where a really significant part of the public is just no longer tethered to reality,” said Jeffrey Glassberg, the founder of the North American Butterfly Association, the parent organization of the butterfly center.
Glassberg has worked as a molecular biologist and patented DNA fingerprinting. He authored several books on butterflies before he established the butterfly center out of an empty onion field.
For the butterfly conservatory to be at the center of false trafficking allegations, he said, “nothing could be more absurd, frankly.”
Source: Conspiracy theorists’ threats force Texas butterfly sanctuary to close | The Texas Tribune
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