County GOP Vice Chair posted conspiracy theories on Parkland

Nine days after Orange County GOP committee woman Kathy Gibson was called on by state Republicans to resign over racially charged Facebook posts, another Orange County Republican official is facing scrutiny for posting conspiracy theories that call the Parkland shooting a hoax and referring to the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon.

The liberal media watchdog organization Media Matters for America reported Thursday that Lou Marin, Orange County Republican Executive Committee Vice Chair, is an administrator of a private Facebook group called Florida Republicans United. Gibson, the state committeewoman, is listed as another administrator.

In an emailed statement Friday, Marin said the posts “are designed to stimulate discussion and debate on a private Facebook page. … At no time did any of these shared posts generate any vibrant conversation because most of our followers are intellectual adults.”

MM4A said Marin shared several posts referencing QAnon, an extremist conspiracy theory that believes President Trump is working with Special Counsel Bob Mueller to expose Democrats running child sex rings. The conspiracy theory gained national attention in July when people in the stands at the Tampa Trump rally wore QAnon shirts.

“Treason: QAnon exposes Obama/Hillary 16-year coup d-etat plan,” reads one story posted twice by Marin in the Facebook group in February, according to screenshots made by MM4A.

A public post on Marin’s own Facebook page, as well as a MM4A screenshot of a post on the private page, references QAnon and the QAnon page “Great Awakening” on the site Reddit, which was banned Wednesday by site administrators due to violent threats.

In April, Marin posted on his personal page and on Twitter an article claiming the Feb. 14 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas were a “false flag” or hoax.

“Does this stunning email indicate Parkland shooting was just another FALSE FLAG designed to take YOUR guns?” Marin wrote.

Marin also shared a story claiming the man charged with hitting and killing Heather Heyer with a car in Charlottesville in 2017 was innocent and another claiming Hillary Clinton was linked to the murder of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, according to MM4A.

Gibson, who was called on by Republican gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis to resign earlier this month after several racially charged Facebook posts, including one claiming, “Andrew Gillum says when he wins governor of Florida, ‘his people’ will be getting ‘paid back’ for slavery” and a meme featuring a play on the word racist as “Rational Adults Confronting Intolerant Socialist Trolls,” had not resigned her position as of Thursday.

She said her Facebook page had been hacked.