The conspiracy theory that won't end: 'Enough is enough'

When Emma MacDonald saw the tragedy unfolding at a high school in Florida, she felt a sense of dread.

She knew what would come next: the same lie that's been spreading for years. 

It's like clockwork. New life is given to the hurtful conspiracy with each tragedy. Each time MacDonald, of Boston, feels to blame because it's her face that is used to promote one of the more popular conspiracy theories over the last few years. 

"Enough is enough," said MacDonald, 25. "This needs to go away." 

It started with a photo of MacDonald breaking down in tears during a vigil after the 2013 Boston marathon bombing. Conspiracy theorists took the image and pasted it alongside other crying women after mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Co. — and the latest addition in Parkland, Fla. 

All are white, thin and brunette. Most are crying. The aim is to try to prove those grieving after the tragedies were actually the same person and a staged actress paid to respond to crisis around the county. The collage has been used after the Manchester Arena bombing and a 2015 shooting at a college in Roseburg, Oregon that left 10, including the gunman, dead.

"When you're short on crisis actors," the photo is labeled, which quickly went viral on social media after last week's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 

The post didn't include that the woman added from Parkland, Fla. wasn't a student at all but actually CBS producer Gisela Margarita Perez, who was posing for a photo with student survivors before an interview. 

Source  USA TODAY