Noah Pozner’s Father Warns Trump Boosts Hateful Conspiracy Theories

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By Naomi Zeveloff May 3, 2017

Lenny Pozner, the father of Noah Pozner, the youngest child slain in the 2012 Newtown school shooting, warned that conspiracy theorists are going mainstream, reaching “all the way to the White House” in an interview with the Guardian.

Pozner and other Newtown parents have been harassed by online “hoaxers,” as he calls them, who cast doubt on whether the shooting, which killed 27 students and staff, ever occurred.

One of the most prominent Newtown conspiracy theorists is Infowars creator Alex Jones, who has a cozy relationship with President Trump.

“It’s like a brushfire: you need to shape it and direct it,” Pozner said of the proliferation of conspiracy theories. “But if you leave it alone, it will burn down your forest, and it has reached all the way to the White House.”

According to the Guardian, the Newtown school board wrote Trump asking him to denounce Alex Jones and the other Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists, but Trump has yet to respond.

Meanwhile, Pozner is using copyright law to prevent the conspiracy theorists from using Noah’s image online.

“I never imagined I’d have to fight for my child’s legacy,” he said. “I never imagined life without any of the children at all.”

Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected] or on Twitter @naomizeveloff

Naomi Zeveloff is the former Middle East correspondent of the Forward, primarily covering Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

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