The Sandy Hook Elementary School shoot took place on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. The perpetrator, Adam Lanza, shot his mother dead before killing 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and later committed suicide. A number of suburban figures have promoted conspiracy theories that doubt or deny what happened at Sandy Hook. Conspiracy theories claim, for example, that the massacre was actually governed by the US Government as part of a complex plot to promote tighter weapons control laws. Other conspiracy theorists, such as Alex Jones, have denied that the massacre actually took place, stating that it was completely false.
There is no evidence to support this conspiracy theory, which makes a number of unreasonable claims. In addition, many of the conspiracy theories of Sandy Hook are at odds with each other. Several sources have published articles that uncover various claims filed by conspiracy theorists. In 2018, parents of several children killed in a Sandy Hook photo shoot launched a lawsuit against Alex Jones and another conspiracy video writer for defamation, accusing them of being involved in a campaign of "false, cruel, and dangerous statements."
Video Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting conspiracy theories
Conspiracy claim
Engagement of the United States
Some conspiracy theories have alleged that the shooting was a fake and false flag operation staged by the United States government. Others claim the attack was used by politicians to push through new gun control laws, or to persecute gun owners and survive.
Orly Taitz's lawyer and dentist - renowned for his promotion of the conspiracy theory of Barack Obama ("birther") - is quoted as asking "Is Adam Lanza drugged and hypnotized by his handler to make it a killing machine as an excuse as the regime wants to take all means of self-defense from people before the economic collapse? "
Talks host Clyde Lewis writes: "Do not you find it very interesting that Adam Lanza, the alleged shooter at Sandy Hook, wakes up one day and decides to go to school and kill children at about the same time as Barack Obama told the UN that he will sign a small arms deal? "
According to Live Science, "No one, regardless of what side of their weapons control issue, can deny that weapons play a key role in the killing of Sandy Hook, so conspiracy theorists should instead challenge the claim that the attack even took place. - fear people to support more weapons control and a step toward the direct revocation of the Second Amendment. "They also found that most of the evidence used by conspiracy theorists to support the concept that Sandy Hook is a contradictory trick. Snopes.com also dismantled some of the alleged US government involvement claims in the shootings.
Claims broadcast by Iranian television
Press TV, Iran's state-run media outlet, has promoted antisemitism conspiracy theories that blame the "Israeli death squad" for the shootings. Press TV interviewed Veteran Today's website Gordon Duff, quoting Michael Harris, a former Republican candidate for the governor of Arizona, who made the claim of "the death squad of Israel". Harris is openly linked to neo-Nazi groups in the past and has previously claimed that Israel was responsible for the Norwegian attack of 2011. Duff insisted that the attack was an act of "revenge" for the perceived cooling of Israeli-US relations under President Obama, in response to Obama's decision to nominate former senator Chuck Hagel, a critic who is considered Israel, for the position of US Secretary of Defense. In another broadcast by Press TV, the Holocaust denier James H. Fetzer claimed that the massacre "seems to be a psy ops intended to strike fear in the hearts of Americans" perpetrated by "Israeli agents."
The Washington Post reported that the claims broadcast on Press TV contained a large number of "clear logical errors" typical of Iranian propaganda, which "has a good reputation for the burning anti-Israeli story and for the wild conspiracy theories." The Atlantic wrote that the story "clearly plays the worst fears of those who believe in the secret Jewish secret that runs the world, but it is a pretty sad attempt at defamation, even for Iran.
Additional conspirators
Ben Swann, a Cincinnati newsreader for Fox affiliate WXIX-TV, has suggested on his personal YouTube channel that Adam Lanza is accompanied by other shooters; he has made similar claims about the Aurora shootings and the shooting of Sikh Wisconsin temples from early 2012. Other conspiracy theorists claim that as many as four shooters were present.
There is no credible evidence that additional shooters were present at the event. Some such reports may be influenced by confusing, early news reports about the event.
Relationship with LIBOR scandal
Other conspiracy theories have focused on the claim that Adam Lanza's father was an executive with GE Energy Financial Services. According to these theories, Lanza's father should have testified before the Senate Banking Committee with information on the Libor scandal. However, no trial is scheduled. Similar claims have been made about James Holmes' father, perpetrator of the 2012 Aurora shoot.
Site stamp of warning
Conspiracy theories have claimed that various time stamps for creation date, whois records, and Google cache from various warning sites, fundraising sites, and Facebook were made before or immediately after the date and time of the shootings and therefore "evidence" of conspiracy or cover. However, time stamps are often wrong, especially in search engines. Some time stamps are initially created and assigned to the URLs that are then redirected, which means that the URLs linked to the current event can have much older dates.
Alex Jones claims
In September 2014, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who runs the InfoWars website, who earlier claimed the assassination was a fake "flag" attack by the government, made a new conspiracy claim that "no one died "at Sandy Hook Elementary School because Uniform Crime Reports did not show murder in Newtown for 2012, and that the victim was a" child actor. "This claim is false and misrepresented the FBI report. In fact, since the Connecticut State Police were the principal investigators after the attack, Sandy Hook victims were included in records throughout the state of Connecticut (under "Other State Police") than under Newtown statistics.
In November 2016, Erica L. Lafferty, daughter of Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, principal who was shot and killed at Sandy Hook School, wrote an open letter to elected President-elect Donald Trump (published in Medium and USA Today, called him to denounce Jones, after Trump appeared on Infowars during his presidential campaign and praised his presenter, saying conspiracy theorists had an "extraordinary" reputation and promised not to disappoint him. On February 20, 2017, the Newtown School Board wrote a letter to President Trump and urged him to recognize the murder of 26 people at Sandy Hook and to "remove your support from anyone who continues to insist that the tragedy was staged or unreal." Trump did not respond to the letter.
On April 16, 2018, the parents of two shooting victims sued Alex Jones for $ 1 million.
James Tracy
James Tracy, a former professor at Florida Atlantic University who teaches courses on conspiracy theories, has suggested the shootings did not really happen or happened very differently than recorded in the main report, claiming political motives to cover up. His accusations were heavily criticized by Patricia Llodra, a Newtown voter. In addition, Florida Atlantic President Mary Jane Saunders issued a statement that Tracy's view "is not shared by" the university. Responding to his comments, the university opened a Tracy investigation, which has a term of office.
In December 2015, after Noah Pozner's family claimed that Tracy had harassed them, the FAU moved to dismiss Tracy. Chan Lowe of Sun-Sentinel speculated that the comment was a publicity stunt by Tracy. Tracy then refused to appear on CNN with Anderson Cooper, pointing out that Cooper wanted to bring him and his family members to harm by identifying him in the previous broadcast. The University dismissed Tracy on January 5, 2016, citing her refusal to file the necessary documents related to outside employment for several years.
While Tracy has drawn some of her suggestions, acknowledging that real deaths occurred in the shootings, other sources continue to claim that the whole event is a hoax. A video which also questioned the official account of the shootings received several million views on YouTube within a week of posting, although the video has been modified to show a disclaimer explaining that its creators "never claimed that this shooting never happened, or that people did not lose their lives. "
Other conspiracy theories and claims
On September 12, 2014, during a political debate, Colorado Republican candidate Tom Ready (who ran for the Pueblo County Commission) was accused by his opponent, Sal Pace, posting an article on his Facebook page claiming Sandy Hook's shooting "never happened". Ready to answer: "Well, there are some questions as to whether that happens, Sal." This was followed by more statements from the same tenor, prompting angry shouts from the audience. After allegedly receiving death threats the following day, Ready reportedly apologized for his remarks.
Other conspiracy theorists are trying to link shootings to references in popular culture. Prison Planet, the website of British conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson, mentions that Newtown-based writer Suzanne Collins wrote The Hunger Games book, in which 22 children were "ritually" killed, while 20 children killed. in the shooting. Others show that "Sandy Hook" can be seen on the map in Batman 2012 The Dark Knight Rises . This is what some conspiracy theorists have called predictive programming.
Some conspiracy theorists also claimed the shooting victims six years later appeared in a photo with President Barack Obama. In fact, the child in the photo is a sister of the victim, dressed in the clothes of her dead sister.
Maps Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting conspiracy theories
Analysis
Writing about the conspiracy theory of Sandy Hook, Benjamin Radford argues that most conspiracy theorists who accuse the contradictions in official accounts ignore the contradictions in their own accounts, citing research from the University of Kent that conspiracy theorists selectively focus on or ignore certain details to fit them. the preferred narrative. Conspiracy theories have also been called evidence of "the need for a national debate on mental illness."
The Debbs website debunking Snopes runs an editorial that defies the video "Sandy Hook Exposed", explains how many plausible theories are, and answers many questions put forward by conspiracy theorists.
Harassment by conspiracy theorist
Gene Rosen, a Newtown resident who has reportedly been protecting six students of Sandy Hook and a bus driver at his home during the shootings, has been subjected to online harassment accusing him of involvement in the closure of government, among other things. Some reporters mentioned such incidents as part of the "Hook Hook Truther Movement" analogous to the Truth 9/11 movement. A writer for the Calgary Herald reported that the movement identified itself as "Operation Terror."
In May 2014, 28-year-old Andrew David Truelove stole a warning sign from a playground dedicated to victims of Grace McDonnell and Chase Kowalski. He then went on to call Grace McDonnell's parents, proclaiming that he stole the mark and that he believed their death was a "hoax". He was arrested on May 30, and the signs were found at his home. Truelove was convicted of theft and sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Robbie Parker, victim's father Emilie Parker - after a CNN interview on the day after the shootings - was subjected to conspiracy theories, which claimed the interview was staged. Parker has been attacked by the theorists who believe he is a "crisis actor" and "got into character" before going on CNN to mourn the loss of his son.
In April 2016, Matthew Mills, a 32-year-old man from Brooklyn, accepted a plea agreement with a prosecutor with one count of disturbing the police arising from the incident in November 2015, when Mills angrily approached the sister of the murdered teacher, the Soto Victoria-who is considered a hero for his efforts to protect his students from shooters in Sandy Hook's attacks - pushing the photo on his face, "and starts angrily accusing that not only did Sandy Hook's tragedy happen, but that Victoria Soto never existed." Mills filed a plea < i> Alford and thus found guilty; he was sentenced to one year in prison and two years probation.
In December 2016, Lucy Richards, a 57-year-old woman from Tampa, was charged with four alleged threats in interstate commerce for sending death threats to Lenny Pozner, whose son Noah was the youngest of 20 children killed. Pozner has been specifically targeted by Internet trolls and conspiracy theorists because he has fought back against them. Richards has been expected to plead guilty to one allegation of broadcasting a threat, with both prosecutors and advocates recommending probation and house arrest. However, in March 2017, Richards - who was free in ties - failed to attend court for trial and sentencing for change. An arrest warrant was issued, Richards' bond was revoked, and he was immediately arrested. On June 7, 2017, Richards was sentenced to five months in prison.
Lenny Pozner, Sandy Hook's father Noah Pozner, founded an organization called HONR, which takes legal action against harassing victims and the Sandy Hook family.
See also
- The political gun in the United States
- List of conspiracy theories
- Reactions to Sandy Hook Elementary School photoshoot
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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