Conspiracies Alive

In the End, Who Knows?

The problem with conspiracy theories is that they are almost impossible to falsify.  The lack of evidence is taken to "prove" that indeed a conspiracy exists.  After all, if there is little or scant evidence to hand, it becomes a signal, if not evidence, that a grand conspiracy is afoot.  Little evidence indicates that someone is hiding something, which in turn, goes some way to "prove" the claim.  

We have seen this trope playing out over the case of  Dieuwe de Boer.  Here is a summary of what "went down". 

Dieuwe de Boer, who co-founded the Right Minds NZ website, posted of his experience to his site. He said he was at his Auckland home with his wife and three young children when half a dozen armed police officers "swarmed in the front door" and searched his house.

De Boer says they were looking for a now-prohibited magazine fitted to a .22 lever-action rifle, which he had said he owned during a submission to Parliament when the arms reforms were being discussed. He's now wondering if the raid was "politically motivated" in order to make an example of him.  [Newshub]

The police, on their part, have made the raid out to be a pretty routine matter.  See if you think this rings true:

 A statement from police said they executed a search warrant and armed officers attended as a precaution.  "As has been well-signalled, the Arms Act has been amended and it is the role of police to ensure compliance with the new legislation," the statement said.  "This means we will investigate and act on information or concerns about now-prohibited firearms, to ensure the safety of our community." . . . .

In a statement to Newshub, Police said they "did not use any information from the select committee process". [Emphasis, ours.]

So, the speculations will likely continue to grow because it appears the Police are covering up the reasons why they targeted and raided De Boer.  [There is no other word.  No information via the select committee process implies that information or a "tip" would have to have come from someone else.] 

Or, maybe, the NZ Police were engaged in a practice raid.  After all, the new firearms law is, well, new and some senior officer may have decided it would be prudent to have a few practice raids to fine tune Police procedures.  De Boer just happened to  be an unfortunate guinea pig. 

And so the speculations roll which is normal when a conspiracy is alive and well.  Mistrust grows like a mushroom.  When that happens, no-one wins--at least no responsible person or entity wins.