How 9/11 Made Everyone a Conspiracy Theorist

On June 28 2001, radio host Bill Cooper claimed a CNN crew had entered Osama bin Laden’s hideout and announced an imminent attack on the United States and Israel, misrepresenting a Middle Eastern broadcaster’s interview with al Qaeda’s military chief Mohammed Atif. Cooper used the story to allege CIA-created bin Laden and a false-flag plot, a narrative that later resurfaced after 9/11 and reshaped public attitudes toward facts and truth.