Sandy Hook: the controversies

On December 14 2012 one of the most devastating school shootings ever in the history of the world happened in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty eight people died, including the gunman, Adam Lanza. There are many controversies and conspiracies surround this tragedy. Most of the arguments surrounding Sandy Hook is about gun control. However, there are many more conspiracies about what really happened on that fateful day.

One of the first major misconceptions was about Adam Lanza’s mother, Nancy. It was originally reported that Nancy worked at Sandy Hook as a kindergarten teacher, but Nancy did not work there, in fact, she was not even a teacher at all. Nancy did not have any connections to the school whatsoever. The school nurse, Sally Cox, was the one who reported that Nancy was a teacher at Sandy Hook, but Cox changed her story about several things related to the shooting. She claimed that Adam had walked straight into her office, looked her in the eye and then left with no expiation. In a later interview she changed her story, saying that she had hid under her computer desk and seen his feet in an opening in the back of the desk. Cox said “I heard the door close and then he probably walked in…” during an ABC News interview. He “probably” walked in? Had she actually seen him or not? She should know for a fact whether or not a gunman had walked into her office. She also told reporters that she knew the Lanza’s and that Nancy was a wonderful woman and when she was asked if Adam had any mental health issues, Cox said absolutely not.

  (nydaliynews.com)

After Adam Lanza had finished killing everyone and police had entered the school, more controversial information was released to the public. For instance, officials had said that only three weapons were on Adam, two handguns and a rifle. There were actually five weapons, four handguns that Adam had brought into the school. The gun, a rifle, was found that night in his car, so he could not have killed anyone with it. The medical examiner, Dr. H. Wayne Carver, had said that everyone in the school was killed “by the long one” referring to the rifle, but the rifle was not found in the school; it was in Adam’s car. The Dr. Carver had some unusual responses to the media’s questions. When he was asked about identifying the bodies of the dead, his response was “you can control the situation depending on your photographers.” The photographers took pictures of the deceased’s faces which were then identified by their families. None of the families ever saw their children; all of the students had a closed casket funeral. This has caused much controversy over the fact that only government officials ever saw the deceased. Dr. Carver also said “I hope the people of Newtown don’t have this crash on their head later.” What does that mean?

The parents acted quite unusually for someone who had just lost their very young child. Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie died, held a press conference two days after the shooting. He can be seen coming out of a building, unaware that the cameras are already rolling, smiling and laughing. As he steps up to the microphones he begins to hyperventilate and act very solemn, changing his demeanor in a matter of seconds. Emilie had a Facebook page made in remembrance of her, however the first post announces Emilie has died in the shooting, but the third post announces that they do not know if Emilie is dead or alive. Emilie does not appear in a single class picture, but she is pictured with President Barack Obama when he visited the victims’ families. Grace Mcdonell’s parents are also interviewed by CNN within a few days after the shooting. They too are unusually happy and smiley considering their precious daughter has just been murdered.

One of the most contradicting people interviewed was Gene Rosen, who lived near the school. He said that he found six students sitting at the end of his driveway that day. He said he took them inside and let them play with toys. His story changes and he says that there was a male adult with them and sometimes it is a female bus driver who was with them. He said in one interview it took the children 30 minutes to tell him what happened, but in another interview he said they were crying, when he found them saying “Our teacher is dead! Ms. Soto is dead!” Rosen also claimed that he had checked the list of the dead at 6 P.M. but that list was not actually released for two days. People think that Rosen was just one of many “crisis actors” used for Sandy Hook by the government to hide something.

The one girl who survived by playing dead has remained anonymous. Her parents are suing the state of Connecticut for $100 million. The family lawyer said the money would be compensation for the girl’s psychological damage. This has made many people speculate that the little girl saw something that the public does not know about and therefore the family must know more than they should. I think that if someone has $100 million worth of trauma that they should be put into a mental facility that can help them better than $100 million.

 

Many websites have inconsistencies. Adam Lanza’s death record shows him dying December 13, the day before the shooting. This has led many to believe that Adam and even Nancy were just patsies used by the government, like Lee Harvey Oswald was in the JFK assassination. Nancy’s death, however, is recorded as December 14. Many websites and funds set up for donations for the victims’ families have dates as early as November. Teacher Victoria Soto’s memorial Facebook page was created on December 10, four days before the shooting. It has since been taken down and replaced after numerous people pointed that out.

My biggest personal problem with this is the fact the Nancy had guns in the house knowing that her son has mental health issues.Why would she have guns when her son's babysitters were not even allowed to go to the bathroom or turn their backs on Ryan? Most of the controversies and conspiracies are due to lack or photo and video evidence, unusual behavior from both family and officials, and contradicting interviews. It would be hard to find much video without someone being shot based on how many were killed and how quickly it unfolded. It took a while to get surveillance footage from the Columbine shooting too so perhaps we will just have to wait for a little longer. There are already documentaries done about the Sandy Hook conspiracies. They are quite interesting regardless of what you believe. 

Staff writer: Kelly Haynes