Conspiracy Theorists Are Harassing 'Dark Knight Rises' Shooting Victims

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images People arrive at the Arapahoe County Courthouse for James Holmes' arraignment.

Conspiracy theorists tend to get vocal after big tragedies.

Now, victims of the shooting at a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colo. are being harassed relentlessly, Salon reported on Friday.

It's gotten so bad that a county lawyer prosecuting suspect James Holmes asked a court to remove victims' names from public records.

Deputy District Attorney George Brauchler said last week in a motion filed with the court that victims and their families had "expressed concerns for their privacy and personal safety."

Conspiracy theorists have "contacted victims in this case, some of whom have even gone so far as to recruit other members of the public to contact the victims and to publicly post maps with the home addresses and phone numbers of the victims on various social media sites,” he wrote.

Jordan Ghawi, whose sister was killed in the shooting, told Salon that one conspiracy theorist asked him if he had seen his sister's body. Ghawi refused to answer.

“From there, it went to threatening emails that included death threats … he did threaten my life at one point,” Ghawi explained to Salon, saying he learned the same person had harassed the wife of a pilot of one of the planes hijacked on 9/11.

Conspiracy theories began to emerge soon after the July 20 shooting at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." Holmes has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the massacre where 12 people died and 58 were injured.

Head over to Salon to read the full story >