The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper S2023E19 - Waiting for JFK: Report from the Fringe

CNN Correspondent Donie O'Sullivan presents a chilling year-long investigation into the devoted followers of a fringe conspiracy theory rooted in QAnon ideology. 

O'Sullivan tracks the stories of Americans consumed by a conspiracy theory that John F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. are still alive and descended from Jesus Christ. In reporting the documentary, he went to Dallas, where Michael Protzman, then a leader in this conspiracy theory, had convened his followers at the Grassy Knoll, waiting for JFK or JFK Jr. to reappear. Protzman had no solid answers to O'Sullivan's questions. Several months after that interview, Protzman died in a motorcycle accident, a death some of his followers refuse to believe. O'Sullivan casts more light on Protzman and his movement by speaking to his mother about how her son lost himself into the web of conspiracy theories, how it tore their family apart, and whom she blames for it all.

"Every night, an untold number of Americans sit down for dinner and often hear increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories being repeated by a loved one. Confusion and frustration give way to a sense of helplessness as many watch their moms, dads, brothers, or sisters being sucked further and further down the rabbit hole," says O'Sullivan. "With so much focus on the conspiracy theories and the conspiracy theorists, we wanted to show the real impact that this is having on American families – the true victims of our post-truth society."

O'Sullivan goes beyond the spectacle of the bizarre conspiracy theory and speaks with heartbroken family members of those whose loved ones have left home and waited in Dallas for months for the supposed return of the Kennedys. He also speaks with the founder of a nonprofit helping those leaving cults and hate groups, author Diane Benscoter, who believes this group is a cult.