This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Bruske, Stacey Cole, and Todd Michaels.

When a public figure is murdered, the story doesn't end when a shot is fired.

It fractures.

And that space between confusion and confirmation, something else tends to take root.

Within hours of Charlie Kirk's assassination, social media filled with silence and noise, claims of a false

flag, fake text, deep state plots, AI generated notes, even talk of multiple shooters. Everyone's

searching for a version of the truth that

fit their worldview. But why do we do that? Why do conspiracy theories spread faster than facts?

Especially when the evidence, the filings, and the forensics are sitting right there in front of us.

We're going to dive into that. Former FBI Special Agent and Chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program,

Robin Drake, joining us to dissect how conspiracies are born, why they resonate,

and what makes them nearly impossible to kill.

We're going to take a look at the psychology behind belief,

why people cling to explanations that defy logic and why asking questions,

even uncomfortable ones, still matters. Because understanding conspiracy thinking isn't about

silencing curiosity. It's about protecting it from manipulation, distortion, and the noise

that drowns out truth. So, Robin, let's start here.

When the public doesn't have answers, why do our brains rush to invent them?

What psychological need is being met when people create order out of their own chaos, I guess?

You just said it right there.

We as a species have an amazing ability to try to find patterns where patterns may or may not exist. Because when we understand patterns and we see patterns, what's it to do? It allows us to feel safe. And so that's one of the reasons why we do these things and have our own confirmation biases. And if we're trying to have a confirmation

of there must be a pattern here, I will find the pattern. That's part of it. But there's lots of

...