In the wake of the Florida school shooting, survivors like David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez have become faces of the fight for United States gun control — and targets for far-right pundits and conspiracy theorists who paint the students as puppets of the political left.

In a polarised climate where the most fervent supporters of President Donald Trump are quick to cry “fake news,” the students had barely started calling for action to stop mass shootings when wild theories began swirling on the far-right internet.

At the forefront were websites Infowars and The Gateway Pundit — known for relaying bogus theories including the notion that the shooting of 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 was a hoax.

“Evidence mounts Florida attack is a giant false flag,” ran the title of one video on Infowars.

Gateway Pundit lashed out at “string-pullers” it said were manipulating the students, in support of a “vehemently anti-gun, anti-American, and anti-Trump” agenda.

The site namely implicated organisers of the “Women's March” — which has voiced support for a student-led gun control march on Washington on March 24.

Hogg, a student journalist and one of the movement's most visible faces, and Gonzalez, who called out Donald Trump over his links to the National Rifle Association in an impassioned televised address last weekend, have been on the receiving end of particularly fierce attacks.

Infowars alleged the pair were coached by CNN — the cable network regularly assailed by the American right for its supposed liberal bias — interpreting their ease in front of the camera as evidence they were in reality “crisis actors” working on behalf of the far left.

Meanwhile, Hogg's father's status as a retired FBI agent — an organisation in Trump's crosshairs over its probe into Russian meddling in his election campaign — served as further conspiracy fodder.

A YouTube video presenting the theory was the site's most shared footage Tuesday with around 200,000 views — before it was taken down. Similar allegations were circulating on social media under the hashtags #CrisisActors and #ParklandHoax, triggering immediate calls for the accounts to be blocked.

Still, another Parkland survivor, Cameron Kasky, who launched the movement's rallying cry #NeverAgain, said on Wednesday he was suspending his Facebook account after receiving death threats from radical supporters of the National Rifle Association.

'Unbelievable'

Conservative anchor Bill O'Reilly — who was fired by Fox News last year over sexual harassment allegations, but still broadcasts on his website and to his 2.6 million Twitter followers — also questioned the movement's genesis.

“The national press believes it is their job to destroy the Trump administration by any means necessary. So if the media has to use kids to do that, they'll use kids,” he wrote on his website Tuesday.

The theories reached the president's inner circle as president's son Donald Trump Jr “liked” two tweets related to Gateway Pundit's accusations against Hogg, according to the site Trump Alert which tracks the family's activity on Twitter.

And in Florida, Republican lawmaker Shawn Harrison on Tuesday fired an aide who repeated the crisis actor allegations on his Twitter account.

Harrison said he was “appalled” by the comments.

Questioned by CNN about the accusations, Hogg simply dismissed them as “unbelievable.” “I am not a crisis actor,” he said.

“I am somebody who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to have to do that.

Trump suggests arming teachers

US President Donald Trump suggested arming teachers to deter mass shootings as he faced broken voices, tears and demands for action at a meeting Wednesday with survivors of the gun rampage that killed 17 people at a Florida high school.

Trump also promised “very strong” background checks on gun owners during the poignant “listening session,” in which he heard first-hand accounts from bereaved parents and friends, and schoolchildren who narrowly escaped with their own lives.

But his proposal to arm educators received a cool response from a teacher who survived the shooting as well as the local sheriff at a town hall meeting in Florida.

“A gun-free zone, to a maniac — because they are all cowards — a gun-free zone is 'Let's go in and let's attack,” Trump said.

“If you had a teacher who was adept at firearms, they could very well end the attack very quickly,” Trump said, suggesting that 20 per cent of a school's teachers could be trained to carry concealed weapons.

“This would only be obviously for people who are very adept at handling a gun,” Trump added.

The televised White House meeting came as students staged street protests across the country to demand stricter gun laws following the murder of 14 teens and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

'My daughter has no voice'

The White House meeting was attended by Stoneman Douglas students, their parents and also the parents of victims of the Columbine, Sandy Hook and other shootings.

Andrew Pollack, whose 18-year-old daughter Meadow was among the Stoneman Douglas victims, told Trump he was there “because my daughter has no voice. She was murdered last week.”

“We protect airports. We protect concerts, stadiums, embassies,” Pollack said, his voice seething with rage. “I can't get on a plane with a bottle of water. But we leave some animal to walk into a school.”

Justin Gruber, a 15-year-old Stoneman Douglas student, said “there needs to be significant change in this country because this has to never happen again.

“People should be able to feel that when they go to school they can be safe,” Gruber said.

Samuel Zeif, who lost a close friend at Stoneman Douglas last Wednesday, said it was important to “be strong for the fallen who don't have a voice to speak anymore.”

“Let's never let this happen again. Please,” he told the president, later adding: “I don't understand why I can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war.”

Urgent calls for action following the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, which left 20 children and six teachers dead in Connecticut, failed to break the national deadlock on gun control.

But students have vowed to make the Parkland tragedy a turning point, with youths inspired on social media by the activism of their peers staging walkouts from high schools in Florida and elsewhere on Wednesday and demonstrating in cities including Minneapolis, Chicago and Washington.

'Teachers should teach'

Students are planning a march on Washington on March 24, with sister rallies planned across the country.

And students and teachers who survived the shooting challenged politicians over their positions on gun control at a town hall meeting in Florida.

One student pressed Republican Senator Marco Rubio to reject future campaign funding from the National Rifle Association, a staunch opponent of gun control measures.

Rubio demurred on the funding, but did say he would reconsider his position on large-capacity magazine restrictions, as “it may save lives in an attack.”

NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, who repeatedly came under fire at the forum, was asked if it should be harder to obtain semi-automatic weapons, but sought to shift the conversation from firearms to mental health issues.

“I don't believe that this insane monster should have ever been able to obtain a firearm,” she said of the shooter.

Trump — who received strong backing from the NRA during his White House run — has shown a new-found willingness to take at least some steps on gun control following the Parkland shooting.

But his suggestion of arming teachers drew scorn at the town hall meeting.

Scott Israel, the local sheriff, announced that “deputies who are qualified and trained will be carrying rifles on school grounds,” but also pushed back against arming teachers.

“I don't believe teachers should be armed -- I believe teachers should teach,” Israel said.

“Am I supposed to get extra training now to serve and protect on top of educate these children,” asked Ashley Kurth, a teacher who sheltered students during the shooting.

“Am I supposed to have a Kevlar vest, am I supposed to strap it to my leg or put it in my desk? How am i supposed to go on that way?”