The parents of the children massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. have been subject to unending abuse by conspiracy theorists who claim that the massacre was a hoax, that it never happened, that the children and parents were “crisis actors,” and that it was staged by advocates for gun control.
The parents have fought back with defamation lawsuits against Alex Jones, the chief perpetrator of this calumny, and his followers.
EdWeek reports that one parent just won a defamation case.
The father of a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre has won a defamation lawsuit against the authors of a book that claimed the shooting never happened—the latest victory for victims’ relatives who have been taking a more aggressive stance against conspiracy theorists.
The book, “Nobody Died at Sandy Hook,” has also been pulled to settle claims against its publisher filed by Lenny Pozner, whose 6-year-old son Noah was killed in the shooting.
“My face-to-face interactions with Mr. Pozner have led me to believe that Mr. Pozner is telling the truth about the death of his son,” Dave Gahary, the principal officer at publisher Moon Rock Books, said Monday. “I extend my most heartfelt and sincere apology to the Pozner family.”
A judge in Wisconsin on Monday issued a summary judgment against authors James Fetzer and Mike Palacek.
Pozner has been pushing back for years against hoaxers who have harassed him, subjected him to death threats, and claimed that he was an actor and his son never existed. He has spent years getting Facebook and others to remove conspiracy videos and set up a website to debunk conspiracy theories.
Lately, the fight has been joined by others who lost relatives in the Dec. 14, 2012, school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. After quietly enduring harassment and ridiculous assertions for years, some have changed their approach, deciding the only way to stop it is to confront it. Their efforts have turned the tables on the hoaxers, including Alex Jones, host of the conspiracy-driven Infowars website.
Robbie Parker, whose 6-year-old daughter Emilie was among 20 1st-graders and six educators killed at Sandy Hook, spent years ignoring people who called him a crisis actor. His family moved to the West Coast, but still the harassment didn’t stop. He would get letters from people who found his address. He was once stopped in a parking garage by a man who berated him and said the shooting never happened…
Pozner is the lead plaintiff in several of at least nine cases filed against Sandy Hook deniers in federal and state courts in Connecticut, Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin.
In the case against Jones, the families of eight victims and a first responder say they’ve been subjected to harassment and death threats from his followers. A Connecticut judge ruled in the defamation case that Jones must undergo a sworn deposition, which is scheduled for July in Texas.
I hope that justice is done.
“My face-to-face interactions with Mr. Pozner have led me to believe that Mr. Pozner is telling the truth about the death of his son,” Dave Gahary, the principal officer at publisher Moon Rock Books, said Monday. “I extend my most heartfelt and sincere apology to the Pozner family.”
Dave Gahary’s comments are appalling and disingenuous. He only believes Mr. Pozner after face-to-face interactions and 6 plus years after the horrific massacre?!! Most sane human beings believed the massacre happened in 2012 when it was covered in great detail by all the media on an almost hour by hour basis. Only maniacs and lying filth would doubt that the slaughter had happened and continue to believe the lies and hoaxes for years after. A little bit of justice for the parents of these murdered children who have suffered so much at the hands of Alex Jones and all the other despicable deniers of reality and sanity.
May all those Sandy Hook survivors and family who have been so badly abused by the SOBs (and I am being very polite in not using other terms) win any and all legal actions against said SOBs.
Meanwhile, the carnage continues. Daily. And Congress does nothing.
Sounds like the publisher is off the hook. Money, mony, money.
I hope Alex Jones is destroyed financially as an example to others who “just make stuff up”. I hope he does not try to use weasel-words at his trial by blaming others, claiming temporary insanity, or other BS defenses. Alex Jones is one of the acolytes for the anti-truth movement spreading among nut jobs who will try to sell Americans everything from war with Iran, to school shooting hoaxes, to voucher/charter scams. They enrich the already-wealthy, they lie as easily as breathing, and they think we are weenies for playing by the rules and obeying the law.
In 2013, Jones called the shooting “staged” and said, “It’s got inside job written all over it.”
In March 2014, Jones said, “I’ve looked at it and undoubtedly there’s a cover-up, there’s actors, they’re manipulating, they’ve been caught lying, and they were pre-planning before it and rolled out with it.”
In December 2014, Jones said on his radio program, “The whole thing is a giant hoax.”
Jones continued: “The general public doesn’t know the school was actually closed the year before. They don’t know they’ve sealed it all, demolished the building. They don’t know that they had the kids going in circles in and out of the building as a photo-op. Blue screen, green screens, they got caught using.”
Making it clear he didn’t view the occurrence of the shooting as an open question, Jones explicitly said that the Obama administration was behind the shooting, noting, “It took me about a year with Sandy Hook to come to grips with the fact that the whole thing was fake.”
https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2016/11/29/51292/gcn-alexjones-20141228-sandyhook
There is a vile video that seeks to “prove” that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged. Someone sent it here but I deleted it. The children allegedly killed were supposedly actors.
It amazes me that people will listen to Alex Jones or Rush L. Both are continuously spouting lies and raving all sorts of hate. They are making millions of dollars by spreading this unfounded hatred and fear. Hannity on Fox is no better.
My brother wanted me to listen to Rush L and Hannity to ‘learn something’. I don’t need to learn hatred even though I know it exists.
I’d like to think humans are better than that. BUT, Trump got elected by lying and spreading his own visions of hatred and bigotry. He’s saying the same nonsense again to get attention to his hard-wired base.
I fear that Trump will never leave the office. May he end up in prison. There are enough investigations against him and I’m sure some will pay off.
Is there really a law that prevents a sitting president from being indicted? I read that that was manufactured by the DOJ to keep Trump in office.
Alex Jones is a Trump supporter. Both are stains on this country.
………………………………………..
Alex Jones is a conspiracy theorist who has repeatedly bragged about his communications and influence with President Donald Trump. Trump has frequently picked up conspiracy theories and narratives from Jones, including that the 2016 election was “rigged,” former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton founded ISIS, and millions of people voted illegally in the last election.
Trump Has Repeatedly Cited Or Pushed Claims That Were Traced Back To Infowars
Source URL: https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/05/03/guide-donald-trump-s-relationship-alex-jones/216263
Unspeakable. But I’m glad you spoke out.
This is cult behavior.
The first “Jones” was Jim Jones whose heinous actions killed over 900 people who literally drank the kool aid.
Who are these people? What drives them to believe the Alex Jones’s and the conspiracy theorists an follow the Jim Jones’s?
Maybe the psychologists know but still, it happens.
HOWEVER – Whatever the answer of who they are and how they hook people…
NOW Multiply it hundred-folds by social media outreach where thousands… hundreds of thousands of these followers are reached and hooked.
Ok – there’s a sickness at play – psychology and whatever causes this craziness and obedient followers occurs and social media has connected them. Still – that was relatively underground except for the highest profile “conspiracies.”
HOWEVER – – – ALL CAPS … HOWEVER…
Now we have a PRESIDENT WHO PERPETUATES and VALIDATES this sickness and craziness.
A U.S. PRESIDENT who says “there’s some good on both sides” of white supremacist attacks.
A PRESIDENT who claims anything he doesn’t like as “FAKE.”
A PRESIDENT WHO DENIES SCIENCE.
A PRESIDENT WHO CANNOT SPEAK A COMPLETE SENTENCE without a teleprompter (seriously – read and listen).
A PRESIDENT who refuses denounce the Alex Jones’s in society.
If the President were asked about the hoaxers – if he believes we landed on the moon – if he believes Sandy Hook really happened – – he would pause – – he would have to think about it – he would dance – he would actually hesitate and wonder how that question affects him because he would want to be popular with the hoaxers, especially because they are disruptive. (And don’t even get started on guns).
This president has validated lying, scapegoating, bullying, ignorance, blame, hate, and ignorance as acceptable norms.
And what is detestable is not one Senator or Representative or Governor has the guts to say one word about it.