Documentary shows man's descent into Covid conspiracies

Tristan Copeland grew up in Shrewsbury being babysat by his older cousin, Gary Matthews.

Matthews introduced Copeland, then aged 10, to the film Alien, as well as the band Talking Heads, which Copeland jokes he was too young for. They were both artistic, and began moving in the same social circles as they became older.

However, as the years went by, Matthews was drawn into false conspiracy theories about Covid-19 online, and in 2021 age 46, he died after contracting the virus.

Now his cousin has created a documentary exploring how and why Matthews fell into the dark world of Covid denial.

Copeland described it as a "slow creep" into conspiracies, starting when Matthews began campaigning for peace in Syria.

"I think he became exposed to some of the misinformation there," he said.

"I think Gary was feeling unfulfilled and concerned about the world and he had a lot of compassion, he cared deeply."

Copeland said people began to notice his posts on Facebook becoming "more and more erratic" and it was becoming harder to reach Matthews, who was by then working as an artist in Shrewsbury.

"I think he was in that mindset when Covid came along, and he almost immediately picked up on some of the Covid conspiracy theories," he said.

"There was a Facebook group he joined... they were recruiting around Shrewsbury and protesting against lockdown."

Copeland, who was at that time living in the US, said Matthews' immediate family would see and speak to him regularly, but generally avoided talking about his views.

At Christmas 2020, he was working in a local supermarket.

"He was definitely pushing some of the anti-Covid, Covid denial messages, challenging a lot of the messaging that was accepted," Copeland said.

"I know he hated wearing a mask.

"Gary found a reason not to wear it... so while everybody else might've been wearing masks, he wasn't."

Matthews fell ill in early January 2021.

"I heard from his family he had all the symptoms, and later on I heard from his sister that he was coughing while on the phone to her, and trying to hide it," said Copeland.

"Rather late on in his illness, he went and self-tested, which I think for him was a big step, because most of the Covid deniers were dead against the tests."

Matthews tested positive for Covid and told his family, before dying the day after getting the result.

"His dad went to check on him... he had to break into his flat, and got to Gary, I think, less than an hour after he passed away," said Copeland.

"He died at home on his own, reaching for his phone."

Copeland described his cousin's death as a tragedy.

"Unfortunately, it was inevitable that someone flaunting rules and protections at the time, and publicly being involved in the denial and conspiracy movement, was going to pass away from Covid," he said.

Copeland posted a tribute to Matthews' Facebook page, and said it was soon flooded with rebuttals from conspiracy theorists who had protested against lockdown and did not believe in the virus existed.

"They essentially started attacking me, trying to contact Gary's family... they were saying Gary can't have died from Covid, because he and they didn't believe in it," he said.

This, Copeland said, kept him up at night, and eventually sparked the idea of making a documentary.

He began filming in Shrewsbury in April 2021, speaking to many people who knew Matthews.

"I started with Gary's family... I spoke to Gary's friends," he said.

"Even though I'd argued with them online, I contacted the founders and members of the conspiracy group.

"They took me to an anti lockdown protest in London... I filmed that."

He also spoke to experts on conspiracy thinking.

"It's helped me process it, it was a very cathartic way to do it," Copeland added.

The documentary, What About Gary? was screened in Shrewsbury earlier this month and will be shown in London on Thursday.

Copeland hopes it could be shown at film festivals before being released officially.

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