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It is a date that is etched on the memory of 27 families.
On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and gunned down 20 children and six teachers, before turning his rifle upon himself.
For the parents of the murdered children, mostly aged six and seven, that day was the stuff of nightmares.
But few of these grieving parents could have predicted that over the next few years not only would they have to grapple with the deaths of their beloved children, but they would also be forced to contend with “truthers” – conspiracy theorists who doggedly insist that Sandy Hook never happened. That their children’s deaths never happened.
Tonight, the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent interviews Lenny Pozner, whose six-year-old son Noah died in the Sandy Hook tragedy.
He told the TV show that the harassment from “gun truthers” began within days of the shooting – and continues to this day.
“F**k you!! Your child never died at Sandy Hook,” is one of the thousands of posts that Lenny and his wife Veronique have received. And he is far from the only one to have faced such vitriol.
Some “truthers” claim Sandy Hook was a government-sponsored stunt aimed at garnering support for tougher gun laws. Others have attributed the deaths to Israeli millitants. Still more have suggested that the murders were staged to take the heat off Adam Lanza’s father, who was (they claim) due to testify about the Libor scandal.
Pozner is fed up and fighting back. He has launched the HONR network, an organisation aimed at raising awareness about truthers and hoaxers, and which attempts to prosecute those who defame or harass victims of high-profile tragedies.
“I have to absolutely defend the memory of my son — I have no choice,” he said.
Foreign Correspondent airs tonight, Tuesday, on ABC at 9.30pm
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