Florida Atlantic University Fires James Tracy, Professor Who Questioned Sandy Hook Massacre - Lenny Pozner

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A Florida professor who has publicly doubted whether the 2012 massacre of children in Newtown, Connecticut, really happened was fired this week.

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• Publié par: PatrickMSumner
• Publié le: 27 juin 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• Langue: English

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Florida Atlantic University Fires James Tracy, Professor Who Questioned Sandy Hook Massacre - Lenny Pozner

A Florida professor who has publicly doubted whether the 2012 massacre of children in Newtown, Connecticut, really happened was Ired this week.

James Tracy, who teaches communications and mass media at Florida Atlantic University, was told of his termination on Tuesday night, the school said in a statement. He declined to comment to NBC News, saying his lawyers advised him to stay quiet while negotiating with the school.

His removal followed years of controversy over Tracy's o-campus writings, including a personal blog, in which he has questioned the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and other mass shootings. The case has raised questions about free speech and academic freedom, and whether Tracy crossed the line from saying something unpopular to doing actual harm.

The Irestorm culminated with allegations of harassment by one the parents of one of the children killed at Sandy Hook.

Last month, Lenny Pozner and Veronique Pozner, whose 6-year-old son was among 20 children killed at the school, wrote an op-ed in a Florida newspaper saying he'd sent them a certiIed letter demanding proof their boy ever lived. The Pozners said they complained to the police.

Lenny Poznerhas been one of the few parents to speak openly about the tragedy and has even oered to dispel myths created and propagated by a small but obsessive cadre of conspiracy theorists known as Hoaxers. As

the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. Because of his forthrightness, Lenny has become the primary focus of attacks emanating from this cult-like group, whose loosely aîliated members have issued multiple death threats and leveled a host of false accusations against him, including the absurd claim that he faked his own son’s death, among other despicable and unfounded charges.

A few days later, Florida Atlantic sent Tracy a letter saying it was taking steps to Ire him.

ïn a brief interview with NBC News on Dec. 19, Tracy said his letter to the Pozners was a response to a copyright infringement claim by the Pozners demanding he remove photos of their son from his website.

But asked if he accepted that the boy died at Sandy Hook, Tracy replied, "ï don't."

He added, "Nobody died at Sandy Hook." He referred a reporter to a recently published book by that name.

On Tuesday, Florida Atlantic sent Tracy a letter telling him he was Ired.

The letter did not speciIcally cite Tracy's comments on Sandy Hook as a reason. ïnstead, Vice Provost Diane Alperin said he had repeatedly broken university rules by failing to disclose his outside work, including his blog, causing a "conict of commitment" and making it impossible for the school determine if he had any professional conicts of interest. Alperin called Tracy "recalcitrant."

She also upbraided him for using university resources for his outside work, which she did not detail.

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