The father of a victim of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting that claimed the lives of 26 individuals, mostly children, has won a defamation lawsuit against two authors who claimed the event never happened.
The book entitled “Nobody Died at Sandy Hook,” written by James Fetzer and Mike Palacek, made audacious and unfounded claims that the massacre was all an act, perpetrated by the government.
Fetzer, a resident of Wisconsin (where the trial took place), said the “evidence clearly shows this wasn’t a massacre, it was a FEMA drill” before proceedings began, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
Lenny Pozner, the father of a 6-year-old named Noah who perished in the shooting, filed suit against Fetzer and Palacek, claiming that the two were profiting over his pain and anguish, and causing other difficulties in his life due to the ongoing claims that the shooting was a hoax.
“If Mr. Fetzer wants to believe that Sandy Hook never happened and that we are all crisis actors, even that my son never existed, he has the right to be wrong,” Pozner said. “But he doesn’t have the right to broadcast those beliefs if they defame me or harass me. He doesn’t have the right to use my baby’s image or our name as a marketing ploy to raise donations or sell his products. He doesn’t have the right to convince others to hunt my family.”
The Dane County, Wisconsin, judge agreed with him, awarding judgment to Pozner earlier this week.
In a separate lawsuit, publisher Moon Rock Books agreed to pull the book from shelves, as part of an agreement the company made with Pozner beforehand. The decision came about after Dave Gahary, the principal officer with Moon Rock Books, met with Pozner directly.
“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. I extend my most heartfelt and sincere apology to the Pozner family,” Gahary said.
A separate legal challenge against Alex Jones and InfoWars, who for years has notoriously peddled the false notion that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, is ongoing. This past week, Jones turned over files to plaintiffs as part of the discovery process proceedings of that lawsuit.
When files were turned over to Sandy Hook parents’ lawyers, documents allegedly containing child pornography were included in that transfer, BuzzFeed News reported. Jones stated that he believes he’s being framed, and that the files didn’t originate from him.
As late as last Friday, Jones, on his InfoWars program, announced that he was “proud of questioning” the legitimacy of the Sandy Hook shooting.
