Conspiracy theory peddling, Sandy Hook denying, Donald Trump apologist and gun extremist belongs nowhere near a position of power
NEW YORK – Everytown for Gun Safety, and Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, Everytown’s grassroots networks, called on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to resign today after newly-uncovered Facebook exchanges from 2018 indicated that Rep. Greene agreed with conspiracy theories “that ‘none of the school shootings were real or done by the ones who were supposedly arrested for them,’ including the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.” This news came only days after Media Matters uncovered Facebook exchanges from 2018 in which Rep. Greene agreed that the shooting in Parkland was a “false flag” event.
“Rep. Greene continues to lower the already-subterranean bar she’s set for herself, and further embarrass our entire government,” said Sari Kaufman, a volunteer leader with Students Demand Action and a member of the Everytown Survivor Network who survived the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “She should step down and take her radical extremism, conspiracy theories, and hate fueled lies far, far away.”
“No one with a say in our nation’s gun laws should be spewing deadly conspiracy theories about two of the deadliest school shootings in American history,” said Courtney Spriggs, volunteer leader with the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Her vicious brand of gun extremism is the opposite of what we stand for in Georgia – she shouldn’t spend another day in Congress.”
“Rep. Greene should resign today,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Gun violence survivors, Georgians, and the American people all deserve far better than this dangerous conspiracy theorist.”
“Dangerous conspiracy theorists who peddle disinformation like Rep. Greene ever further damage the credibility of Congress,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “Taylor Greene’s lies traumatize the survivors of shooting tragedies and put their safety in danger. She must resign immediately.”
Ahead of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, Rep. Greene used language that further incited the violence at the Capitol by referring to the day as Republicans’ “1776 moment.” A report by the Southern Poverty Law Center highlighted dangerous ties between Rep. Greene and several extremist organizations, such as “the Georgia Three Percent Security Force Intel Militia, Gun Owners of America and anti-LGBTQ hate groups Mass Resistance and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).” According to the report, Rep. Greene has a “cozy relationship… with the far-right anti government militia movement” and a “long-standing friendship… [with] antigovernment militia leader Chris Hill,” the leader of the Georgia Three Percent Security Force.
According to Media Matters for America, Rep. Greene has “expressed support for QAnon, the violence-linked conspiracy theory that the FBI has labeled a potential domestic terror threat. She has also pushed conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks, the killing of Democratic staffer Seth Rich, and Pizzagate, among others.” Greene has also made derisive and misogynist comments regarding gun safety advocates with Moms Demand Action and in support of right-wing militias.
More than 1,500 people in Georgia die every year from gun violence. More information on gun violence in Georgia is available here, and more information on gun violence in the U.S. is available here.