[Ads-l] Origin and evolution of "crisis actor"

Fri Mar 2 18:28:41 UTC 2018

My Wall Street Journal column this week is on the expression "crisis actor."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/plots-politics-and-the-
meaning-of-crisis-actors-1520008999

If paywalled, try my Twitter link:

https://twitter.com/bgzimmer/status/969625526334828545

I fleshed out Bonnie's earlier research, from the innocuous use of the term
by Visionbox in 2012 to conspiracy theorists picking it up. As I mention in
the column, Jason Koebler of Motherboard has also looked into this history.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pammy8/what-is-a-crisis-actor-conspiracy-theory-explanation-parkland-shooting-sandy-hook

Koebler also recently talked about this on the public radio show On The
Media.

https://www.wnyc.org/story/how-crisis-actor-became-part-conspiracy-lexicon/

On Tue, Feb 20, 2018 at 8:17 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> They're ba-ack!:
>
> http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/374734-aid-to-
> florida-state-lawmaker-shooting-survivors-are-actors-not-students
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Jun 20, 2017 at 7:48 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Fascinating, Bonnie.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sat, Jun 17, 2017 at 3:57 PM, Bonnie Taylor-Blake <
> > b.taylorblake at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> In a thread from early 2013 on uses of "staged," Jonathan Lighter picked
> >> up
> >> on the use of "crisis actor."
> >>
> >> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2013-
> January/124705.html
> >>
> >> That's an interesting one, I think. Am I missing a good review of how
> >> "crisis actor" came to be?
> >>
> >> Municipalities, county governments, and the like have long looked for
> and
> >> used volunteers from the community to portray victims in mock disasters
> >> (e.g., as victims in an airplane crash) to test response times and
> skills
> >> of first-responders (paramedics, police, firefighters, etc.).  While the
> >> concept of a volunteer, non-professional "actor" in these drills has
> long
> >> existed, I can't find that there ever was or has been an accepted name
> for
> >> this kind of drill participant.
> >>
> >> "Crisis actor" would be a nice shorthand for such a volunteer, but at
> >> present the term seems entirely negative and nefarious.
> >>
> >> Current usage seems to be applied to persons involved in a tragedy who
> >> are,
> >> as the conspiracy-theorists would tell us, only actors and not true
> >> victims
> >> of said tragedies (not actual gunshot victims, not grieving parents, not
> >> horrified witnesses, etc.); further, these actors are not participating
> in
> >> a true tragedy, but instead are players in a conspiracy, usually
> organized
> >> by the government, to fake a tragedy, the ultimate goal of which is, for
> >> example, only known to the organizer (for example, to remove or limit
> the
> >> citizenry's access to firearms).  See also Wikipedia's description,
> >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_actor.
> >>
> >> The term seemed to blossom after the Sandy Hook Massacre, which took
> place
> >> on 14 December 2012.
> >>
> >> The earliest usage of "crisis actor" I've found in the mainstream press
> >> comes from an article in the 25 December 2012 issue of The Washington
> [DC]
> >> Examiner
> >>
> >> ---------------------------
> >>
> >> With thousands or even millions of people questioning the
> inconsistencies
> >> of the event that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School, it appears
> >> that nobody is looking at possible motives for the murder of Nancy
> Lanza.
> >>
> >> [...]
> >>
> >> Here is a partial list of interesting questions being raised all over
> the
> >> internet:
> >>
> >> [...]
> >>
> >> [bullet point] Was the school part of the shooting spree an emergency
> >> response exercise using paid crisis actors funded by a grant from our
> >> federal government?
> >>
> >> [From "The Only Plausible Motive: the Murder of Nancy Lanza," accessed
> via
> >> Newsbank's America's News database.]
> >>
> >> ---------------------------
> >>
> >> In January, 2013, the term really took off, in part because it was
> >> popularized by James Tracy, then a professor at Florida Atlantic
> >> University, who had apparently been using it for some time; presumably
> it
> >> had also been in use on internet discussion boards and similar.
> >>
> >> ---------------------------
> >>
> >> Moreover, James Tracy asserts in radio interviews and on his [
> >> memoryholeblog.com] that trained "crisis actors" may have been employed
> >> by
> >> the Obama administration in an effort to shape public opinion in favor
> of
> >> the event's true purpose: gun control.
> >>
> >> [From Mike Clary, "Prof. doubts Sandy Hook massacre," The South Florida
> >> Sun
> >> Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 8 January 2013, p. A1.]
> >>
> >> ---------------------------
> >>
> >> As far as I can tell, the term "crisis actor" derives from an effort
> >> reported at, well, crisisactors.org (see
> >> https://web.archive.org/web/20121223001335/http://crisisactors.org/;
> this
> >> page was captured on 23 December 2012), a site registered on 17 August
> >> 2012
> >> and last updated on 16 September 2016. (I also found this press release
> >> via
> >> Newsbank's America's News database; it's presented in full far below.)
> >>  @crisisactors first tweeted on 19 August 2012.
> >>
> >> Notably, the press release mentions that "Crisis Actors is a project of
> >> the
> >> Colorado Safety Task Force established by Colorado State Senator Steve
> >> King," which perhaps was organized in response to the 20 July 2012
> >> shooting
> >> massacre in Aurora, Colorado.
> >>
> >> I suspect, then, that "crisis actors" was coined during the development
> of
> >> this project, later acquiring its more sinister meaning a few months
> >> later,
> >> post-Sandy Hook. This link to an effort of the State of Colorado perhaps
> >> explains a suspicion that the "crisis actor" is involved on behalf of
> the
> >> government or even "funded by a grant from our federal government."
> >>
> >> I'd be happy to hear from anyone else who has looked into the origin and
> >> evolution of this term.  Anything before the Aurora shooting in July,
> >> 2012?  I should note the older usage of "crisis actor" within the
> >> international-affairs/political-science communities to describe
> >> participants (e.g., superpowers or countries) in international crises
> >> (e.g., an escalation to war), but I find no evidence that this
> particular
> >> usage led to today's more common and disturbing meaning.
> >>
> >> -- Bonnie
> >>
> >>
> >> Active Shooter Crisis Actors Target Mall Shootings via Visionbox
> >> Market Wire (USA) - October 31, 2012
> >>
> >> A new group of actors is now available nationwide for active shooter
> >> drills
> >> and mall shooting full-scale exercises, announced Visionbox, Denver's
> >> leading professional actors studio.
> >>
> >> Visionbox Crisis Actors are trained in criminal and victim behavior, and
> >> bring intense realism to simulated mass casualty incidents in public
> >> places.
> >>
> >> The actors' stage acting experience, ranging from Shakespeare to
> >> contemporary American theater, enables them to "stay in character"
> >> throughout an exercise, and improvise scenes of extreme stress while
> >> strictly following official exercise scenarios.
> >>
> >> The actors regularly rehearse scenarios involving the Incident Command
> >> System and crisis communications, and appear in interactive training
> films
> >> produced in both 2D and stereoscopic 3D.
> >>
> >> Producers Jennifer McCray-Rincon and John Simmons formed the group to
> >> demonstrate emerging security technologies, help first responders
> >> visualize
> >> life-saving procedures, and assist trainers in delivering superior
> >> hands-on
> >> crisis response training.
> >>
> >> For example, with a large shopping center, the producers review all
> >> security camera views and design dramatic scenes specifically for
> existing
> >> camera angles, robotic camera sweeps, and manually-controlled camera
> >> moves.
> >>
> >> The producers then work with the trainers to create a "prompt book" for
> >> the
> >> actors so that key scenario developments can be triggered throughout the
> >> mall shooting simulation, and caught on tape.
> >>
> >> The actors can play the part of the shooters, mall employees, shoppers
> in
> >> the mall, shoppers who continue to arrive at the mall, media reporters
> and
> >> others rushing to the mall, and persons in motor vehicles around the
> mall.
> >>
> >> Visionbox Crisis Actors can also play the role of citizens calling 911
> or
> >> mall management, or posting comments on social media websites.
> >>
> >> During the exercise, the producers use two-way radio to co-direct the
> >> Crisis Actors team from the mall dispatch center and at actors'
> locations.
> >>
> >> Within this framework, the exercise can test the mall's monitoring and
> >> communications systems, the mall's safety plan including lockdown and
> >> evacuation procedures, the ability of first responders and the mall to
> >> coordinate an effective response, and their joint ability to respond to
> >> the
> >> media and information posted on the Internet.
> >>
> >> Security camera footage is edited for after-action reports and future
> >> training.
> >>
> >> For more information visit www.Visionbox.org and www.CrisisActors.org.
> >>
> >> Visionbox is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center.
> >>
> >> Crisis Actors is a project of the Colorado Safety Task Force established
> >> by
> >> Colorado State Senator Steve King.
> >>
> >> Contact:
> >>
> >> Nathan Bock
> >>
> >> Amanda Brown
> >>
> >> (720) 810-1641
> >>
> >> Email Contact
> >>
> >> SOURCE: Visionbox
> >>
> >> http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=92D2E5BC3DC45ED5
> >>
>

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