‘I Hadn’t Anticipated Developing Empathy for Them, But You Can See How the Conspirituality Belief System Also Serves as a Set of Coping Mechanisms’

Hardeep Matharu introduced Liz Smith and Noelle Cook’s film, ‘The Conspiracists’, at its London premiere in April. She speaks to the British director and American writer about the eye-opening documentary tracking their journey to understand the lives of the women convicted for their role in the January 6 insurrection

HM: The Conspiracists follows you both on a road trip across the US, meeting women drawn into the world of conspiracy theories.

For former Marine drill instructor Yvonne St Cyr, her involvement in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol in 2021 was one element of fighting a “spiritual war between good and evil” after an unstable upbringing and her turn away from the church during the pandemic.

Tammy Butry, who like Yvonne was convicted for her actions at January 6, became attracted to conspiracy following a number of traumatic life experiences – including suicide, sexual abuse and violence; and her children being imprisoned in the ‘kids for cash’ scandal in which judges accepted financial kickbacks to send minors to private juvenile detention centres.