David Crowley, an Iraq veteran, aspiring filmmaker, and charismatic up-and-coming voice in fringe politics, began filming his film Gray State in 2010. The film's crowdfunded trailer, set in a dystopian near-future where civil liberties are trampled by an unconstrained federal government, was enthusiastically received by the burgeoning online community of libertarians, Tea Party activists, and members of the nascent alt-right. Crowley was discovered dead in his suburban Minnesota home with his family in January 2015. Their shocking deaths quickly became a cause célèbre for conspiracy theorists, who speculate that Crowley was assassinated by a shadowy government concerned about a film and filmmaker who were getting too close to the truth about their goals.