"My dad thinks the absolute hell we went through, where 9 of the victims were in our class, is a hoax..." trib.al/kMuJ6os
Bill’s final semester at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was already difficult enough.
He was part of the final graduating class of survivors of the 2018 shooting. 17 people were killed, 9 of whom were Bill’s classmates. trib.al/kMuJ6os
He was part of the final graduating class of survivors of the 2018 shooting. 17 people were killed, 9 of whom were Bill’s classmates. trib.al/kMuJ6os
But Bill also had to deal with his father’s daily accusations that the shooting was a hoax and that Bill, his classmates, and the shooter were paid pawns in a grand conspiracy orchestrated by some shadowy force. trib.al/kMuJ6os
"He'll say stuff like this straight to my face whenever he's drinking: 'You're a real piece of work to be able to sit here and act like nothing ever happened if it wasn't a hoax,'" Bill said in an anonymous post on Reddit last week. trib.al/kMuJ6os
VICE News spoke to the poster and confirmed the author’s claims about being a survivor of the school shooting. Bill is not the student’s real name as they only spoke to VICE News on the condition of anonymity. trib.al/kMuJ6os
Bill’s dad’s descent into QAnon coincided with the pandemic. "His feelings were so strong it turned into facts for him. So if he didn't like having to wear masks it wouldn't matter what doctors or scientists said," Bill told VICE News. trib.al/kMuJ6os
It escalated after Bill’s father saw a video of Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing Parkland survivor David Hogg. Greene has repeatedly voiced support for QAnon and claimed the Parkland shooting was a hoax. trib.al/kMuJ6os
Ever since then, Bill’s father has become convinced the shooting his son survived was a so-called "false flag" event and that the shooter was "a radical commie actor." trib.al/kMuJ6os
At this point, Bill has little hope in ever seeing his father return to the person he was before he became obsessed with QAnon conspiracy theories, and even if he did, too much has happened to ever repair their relationship. trib.al/kMuJ6os
"He'll never stop on his own because there are always new theories and goalposts being moved," Bill told VICE News. "I don't know how to help someone that far gone." trib.al/kMuJ6os
Read our full story: trib.al/kMuJ6os 
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
