When the Huffington Post hired former NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth as a national security fellow back in September, the football star was forced to explain that he doesn’t actually believe 9/11 was an inside job.
Stallworth tweeted about 9/11 conspiracy theories several times over the years and also plugged Loose Change, a series of films that challenge the U.S. government’s account of the terror attacks. He clarified that he no longer holds those beliefs shortly after announcing his new gig at the Huffington Post.
And the former NFL player explored his “journey into and out of conspiracy land” in his third piece for the news website, “Here’s Why 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Thrive In America,” which went live Tuesday morning.
An apt alternate title would have been “How An NFL Player Became A 9/11 Truther.” Stallworth describes YouTube as his gateway drug into the world of conspiracy theories:
An unguided journey through the bowels of YouTube can lead to some awfully strange places, as it did for me that day. Somewhere amid my research of Obama, I stumbled across a few videos claiming that individuals within the United States government had conspired with Osama bin Laden decades ago.
My first thought about a bin Laden alliance was, yeah right, but I clicked on the link anyway, out of curiosity. It turned out the claim was true — and thus began my journey down the rabbit hole.
He then rambles through his Alex Jones-listening phase, praising the “genius” of “Loose Change” and explaining that the black community in particular is susceptible to thinking that the government is plotting against them.
Stallworth also addresses his Twitter history, writing that he didn’t draw any conclusions about the 9/11 attacks but simply asked questions about the “official story.”
But somewhere down the line, Stallworth writes that he’d gotten deeper into the conspiracy world than he would like to admit. The ex-NFL player cited birther conspiracy theorists claiming President Barack Obama was the “Antichrist” as the last straw for him:
I think the moment the conspiracists finally lost me came when they started proclaiming that President Obama was the Antichrist, essentially sent to America, presumably from Kenya, by an evil cabal to destroy U.S. sovereignty and establish a global government. Obama has done plenty that I’ve disagreed with, as my Twitter feed will attest, but the Antichrist?
So Stallworth doesn’t believe Obama is the Antichrist — but does he believe the President’s birth certificate?
Forget what the birth certificate says… Obama was born on the moon, grew up on Mars and his double is posing as POTUS
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) April 27, 2011
