Robert David Steele
Robert David Steele | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Steele in 2013 | |
| Born | July 16, 1952 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 29, 2021 (aged 69)[1] Florida, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
Robert David Steele (July 16, 1952 – August 29, 2021) was an American CIA officer and conspiracy theorist.[2][3]
Biography[edit]
Steele's father was an executive in an oil company, and he therefore spent the first twenty years of his life in Asia and Latin America. He held a bachelor of arts in political science, a master's degree in international relations, and an AMP in public administration. He worked at the Embassy of the United States, San Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War as a political officer. He then researched artificial intelligence and cognitive strategy.[4]
Steele is credited with coining the terms "virtual intelligence" and "peacekeeping information".[4] He called for intelligence reforms in the United States and advocated for the private sector to develop and sell such intelligence to the central government. He was a supporter of open-source intelligence and argued that the CIA refused to take open-source information seriously and should not be responsible for developing new systems that ran contrary to its history of secrecy.[4]
In June 2017, Steele stated in an interview with Alex Jones that NASA holds a colony on Mars populated by human slaves who were kidnapped as children and sent to the planet. NASA denied these claims.[5]
Arise Tour[edit]
Steele was the founder and chief organiser of the Arise USA tour. The tour featured speakers such as former Oath Keeper and Richard Mack and conspiracy theory promoter Sacha Stone. In July 2021, he held a demonstration in Belfast, Maine to claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and called COVID-19 a hoax.[6] He claimed to be the first person to call COVID-19 a hoax.[3] The tour concluded in August 2021 following allegations that more than three thousand dollars had been stolen from the tour's budget. [7]
Death[edit]
Steele died of COVID-19 in Florida on August 29, 2021, at the age of 69.[8]
Publications[edit]
- On Intelligence: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World (2000)
- The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political (2002)
- Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future (2003)
- Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time (2005)
- The Smart Nation Act: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest (2006)
Filmography[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Gilbert, David (2021-08-30). "QAnon Anti-Vaxxer Claimed COVID Was a Hoax Even As It Killed Him". VICE. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
- ^ Schachtman, Noah (December 14, 2007). "How to Restore Spies Credbility: Go Open Source". Wired. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ a b "Former CIA officer and conspiracy theorist who called pandemic a hoax dies of Covid". The Independent. 31 August 2021.
- ^ a b c Toffler, Alvin; Toffler, Heidi (1993). War and Anti-War: Survival at the Dawn of the 21st Century. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 230-232. ISBN 0316850241.
- ^ "Accusée par des complotistes, la NASA obligée de nier qu'il y ait des enfants-esclaves sur Mars". Le Monde (in French). July 3, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ Carpenter, Murray (July 28, 2021). "As Far Right Activists Rally In Belfast, Protesters Gather Outside". Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ Shuham, Matt (2021-08-11). "The Conspiracy Theory Tour Spreading The Gospel Of Election Audits". Talking Points Memo.
- ^ Mistler, Steve (August 30, 2021). "Conspiracy Theorist Who Spoke At Far-Right Rally In Maine Dies Of COVID-19". Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Retrieved September 2, 2021.