For this blog assignment I decided to focus on the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. if someone may not be aware of this shooting it took place in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14th, 2012 And took the lives of 28 people and injured two. The shooter responsible fatally shot 20 children and six adults before taking his own life making it one of the most deadliest school shootings in the United States (Britannica, 2023)
The Shooter, Adam Lanza Was 20-years-old when he killed his mother Nancy Lanza in their home that they shared in Newton. He shot her four times with .22-caliber rifle which she purchased along with a AR-15 civilian semi-automatic version of the military M16 assault rifle along with various other firearms that Adam Lanza would also use later that day.
At the time, it was the second-deadliest mass shooting in the United States after the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech. After Sandy Hook, President Obama pushed for better gun control such as expaned background checks for gun buyers, but this was blocked by the U.S senete (Historry, 2023). The National Rifle Assosiation responded by the introduction of armed guards into American schools.(Britannica, 20223).
The Consipiracy
Alex Jones is a right-wing American radio host who is known for being an anti-government conspiracy theorist. He has made many claims over the time about the U.S government and the New World Order and came into major media attention for the conspiracy he had to say about the Sandy Hood Elementay Shooting and that “it was a hoax perpetuated to curtail Americans gun rights” He said the massacre was done by crisis actors which led to his listeners harassing the victims families for years. Jones attempt to dismiss the civil suits brought him against him by the families of Sandy Hook victims and now owes those families nearly 150,000 legal in legal fees Jones Lost His appeal in March 2020. He also had to admit the Sandy Hook Elementary Masacre was real and he went bankrupt.
The Sandy Hook Promise is an organization created following the massacre to help stop gun violence and have created impactful commercials that can be seen here and here.
