crisis actor

American  

[krahy-sis ak-ter] / ˈkraɪ sɪs ˌæk tər /

noun

1. a professional or volunteer actor who plays a role in a staged drill in order to prepare or train first responders for a specific emergency scenario.

2. (in a false flag conspiracy theory) a person pretending to be a victim in a hoax attack.

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Etymology

Origin of crisis actor

First recorded in 1975–80 in the sense “independent person, group, or state that engages in disruptive or hostile verbal or physical behavior in international relations”; crisis actor defs. 1, 2 were first recorded in 2010–15

Example Sentences

In the aftermath of the Sydney attack, online users circulated an authentic image of one of the survivors, falsely claiming he was a "crisis actor," disinformation watchdog NewsGuard reported.

From Barron's

Crisis actor is a derogatory label used by conspiracy theorists to allege that someone is deceiving the public -- feigning injuries or death -- while posing as a victim of a tragic event.

From Barron's

NewsGuard also reported that some users circulated an AI image -- created with Google's Nano Banana Pro model -- depicting red paint being applied on the survivor's face to pass off as blood, seemingly to bolster the false claim that he was a crisis actor.

From Barron's

Jeb told me he’d become a target online—called a “crisis actor,” his name dissected by conspiracy theorists looking for hidden meaning.

From Slate

The day after the shooting he accused one of the grieving parents who made a televised statement on behalf of the families, Robbie Parker, of being a crisis actor.

From Salon