'Police State' criticism[edit]
An episode from season two titled "Police State" caused some controversy when it investigated allegations that various
prison-like facilities built around the country that are operated by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be used during
martial law for the internment of citizens who are deemed a threat to national security. Officials have said the facilities are emergency FEMA camps for the housing of civilians displaced by natural disasters.
[8] U.S. Representative Steve Cohen from Tennessee, a co-sponsor of a bill which aimed to create temporary FEMA camps for the housing of people affected by hurricanes or
earthquakes in
his district, was interviewed for the show.
[9]
Shortly after the episode aired, Cohen called for the removal of this program from truTV's lineup. He called the episode an "outrageous distortion and an outright lie," as well as "dangerous and irresponsible." He said "when the media purposely distort the facts to create confusion and mislead people, they must be held accountable. Unless we actively debunk false and misleading reports, we risk leaving the public with a dangerously skewed vision of this country." Cohen said he was "shocked and appalled" that
Time Warner would air a program "so full of inaccuracies and irresponsible distortions."
[10]
Another allegation brought up in the episode focused on a private facility outside
Covington, Georgia, that was stockpiling thousands of plastic bins alleged to be used as coffins for mass burials.
In a response to the criticism, Misty Skedgell, a
Turner spokesperson, described
Conspiracy Theory as an "entertainment program that appears on an entertainment network."
[9]
Although most of the episodes of
Conspiracy Theory have been rerun, the "Police State" episode has been shown only once, owing largely to the controversy surrounding the content of the episode.