QAnon-promoting Georgia congresswoman claimed Stoneman Douglas massacre was ‘false flag’ operation

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican QAnon conspiracy promoter from Georgia, wrote on Facebook that the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School massacre was a “false flag” operation.

Her claim, from 2018, was unearthed and reported by Media Matters, a left-leaning news site that focuses on conservative media.

The Media Matters report included screen shots and links to the posts, which were still visible at midday Tuesday.

Discovery of the Georgia congresswoman’s view — which has no basis in reality — was greeted with disgust by people with firsthand knowledge of the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre that left 17 people dead and 17 injured at the high school in Parkland.

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime, was murdered at the school, addressed his response to Greene in a Twitter post Tuesday and included a picture of her. “We have never met. It appears you think or at one time thought the school shooting in Florida was a false flag. I know you have met Parkland parents. This is my daughter Jaime, she was killed that day. Do you still believe this? Why would you say this?”

Guttenberg said Greene should resign.

Jared Moskowitz said Greene should either quit in disgrace over the comments or visit the site of the massacre.

“You should resign or in the alternative get on a plane (wear a mask) and come to my city #parkland and visit @MSDHighSchool,” he wrote on Twitter, suggesting that Greene talk to Guttenberg and other family members who lost loved ones. “Then go to the grave sites. Those kids didn’t make it home that day. I was there.”

Moskowitz, a Stoneman Douglas graduate, was a state representative from Parkland at the time of the massacre. He is now director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

David Hogg, a student at Stoneman Douglas at the time of the shooting and now a activist fighting gun violence, said on Twitter that Greene should resign. “Why did you call the shooting at my high school a false flag? 17 classmates and staff died - spreading conspiracies about this tragedy is disgusting,” he added.

In addition to commenting that the massacre was a “false flag” planned event, Media Matters reported that Greene said in a separate 2018 Facebook post that “I am told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that ‘we need another school shooting’ in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control.”

Many of Greene’s views have no basis in reality. Before her candidacy, Media Matters reported: “She has pushed the QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theories; falsely claimed that there’s no evidence a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11; labeled the 2018 pipe bomb packages to members of Congress and others a hoax; accused the Obama administration of killing former Democratic staffer Seth Rich; and pushed anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic rhetoric, among other things.”

A “false flag” event is something that is faked or in which attacker to be pretending someone else. The Washington Post explanation of conspiracy theories explained that “a classic false-flag attack is one in which a perpetrator dresses up as the enemy to create the impression that the enemy committed an atrocity.”

Her “false flag” assertion was a comment about how Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson, disgraced for his nonresponse to the shooting, was receiving a pension.

A commenter clamed that it was “a pay off to keep his mouth shut since it was a false flag planned shooting.”

Greene’s reply: “Exactly.”

Another comment reported by Media Matters claimed the Peterson pension was a “Kick back for going along with the evil plan. You know it’s not for doing a good job.”

Greene’s response: “My thoughts exactly!! Paid to do what he did and keep his mouth shut!”

Greene started her first term in Congress on Jan. 3.

On Sunday, Twitter locked Greene’s account for 12 hours for what the company said was violating its “civic integrity policy.” She has repeatedly posted unfounded claims about the election.

She’s also received notoriety for promising to introduce articles of impeachment for Joe Biden the day after he is inaugurated.

A call to Greene’s Washington, D.C., office Tuesday went immediately to voice mail.

Her most recent press release is about her effort to impeach Biden. She didn’t address the matter on Twitter. Her most recent posts talked about impeaching Biden and about arrests at a protest in New York on Monday.