The Daily Telegraph carries a fascinating interview by Will Storr with former 9/11 conspiracy theorist Charlie Veitch, a self declared believer and propagator of views that the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York was “a controlled demolition” by the government in cahoots with Mossad.
Veitch now states that when he was uploading his conspiracy videos to YouTube he was “the new Stalin. The poster boy for a mad movement.” But in reality, and back on planet earth, as the article mentions, “He’s currently an unemployed father-of-one who lives in a semi, in Salford, Greater Manchester, with his fiancée, Stacey.” During his time with conspiracies he became an insider and friends with other conspiracy theorists such as David Icke and Alex Jones.
I quote from the article:
In essence, the modern conspiracy narrative is the same as the one that has existed since at least the 19th century: that the few (often termed the “Illuminati”) control the many. This, of course, is the nucleus of the dangerous anti-Jewish myth. When he was an insider, did he experience anti-Semitism? His eyes open wide: “Loads. Loads. I was once accused of being a Jew because of my olive skin and my nose. They said, ‘We can’t trust him’.” And when they say the ‘Illuminati’ or ‘Reptiles’, do they actually mean Jews? “It’s slightly complicated but, mostly, yes,” he says.
His mind was finally changed from 9/11 conspiracy theories when he was invited to appear on a BBC documentary to mark the 1oth anniversary of 9/11. He was taken to meet a number of experts and his mind was changed. After telling his girlfriend, “I don’t think 9/11 was an inside job,” he posted a video on You Tube with his new views:
“It was relentless,” he says. “A guy in Manchester set up a YouTube channel called ‘Kill Charlie Veitch’. It said, ‘Charlie, I hope you know I’m going to come and kill you. Enjoy your last few days. Goodbye.’ So many hate videos were posted – my face superimposed on a pig and someone’s killing the pig.” Another message featured images of his sister’s young children incorporated within a video of child pornography.
David Icke posted a message saying that Veitch would come to “deeply regret what he has done”, and emailed saying, “Don’t write to me. I don’t know you, mate.” Alex Jones posted a film in which he claimed he’d known “all along”, and that Veitch had “psychopath, sociopath eyes”. His mother called, devastated, believing the paedophilia “confession” which she’d been emailed, along with 15,000 others, was real.
He has this to say about conspiracy theorists:
Conspiracy theorists, he says, are often “bullied people. People who maybe didn’t get the girls at school….They will side with the devil, as long as the devil is against the West.”….
“I’ve gone full circle in my Right-wing thinking,” he says. “There’s a professional victimhood in conspiracy theorists. There’s a hatred of high achievers.”…. As for his own involvement in the conspiracy movement, Veitch has a simpler theory. When asked what it was in his psychology that made him susceptible, he answers emphatically.
“Ego,” he says. “Ego made me vulnerable.”
Hat Tip: John Rentoul via Twitter.
