Florida Atlantic University on Wednesday moved to fire a professor who outraged many by calling the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School an elaborate hoax.
James Tracy, an associate professor at the university, has written that although the news media reported that 26 people died in a mass shooting at the school in Newtown, Conn., the incident was staged.
Last week, the parents of one child, Lenny and Veronique Pozner, wrote an opinion piece in the Sun-Sentinel that began: “It’s been three years since we last embraced our precious little boy, Noah. At six-years-old, he was the youngest child murdered at the Sandy Hook Elementary School….
“The heartache of burying a child is a sorrow we would not wish upon anyone. Yet to our horror, we have found that there are some in this society who lack empathy for the suffering of others. Among them are the conspiracy theorists that deny our tragedy was real. They seek us out and accuse us of being government agents who are faking our grief and lying about our loss.”
Among the conspiracy theorists — and they mention Republican candidate Donald Trump’s “rantings on the Alex Jones radio show” — one who got widespread attention was Florida Atlantic University professor James Tracy.
“Tracy even sent us a certified letter demanding proof that Noah once lived, that we were his parents, and that we were the rightful owner of his photographic image. We found this so outrageous and unsettling that we filed a police report for harassment. Once Tracy realized we would not respond, he subjected us to ridicule and contempt on his blog, boasting to his readers that the “unfulfilled request” was “noteworthy” because we had used copyright claims to “thwart continued research of the Sandy Hook massacre event.”
James Tracey is a despicable human being from the sounds of things. Why would he write such outrageous lies and target these poor people who buried their child 3 years ago?
The Pozner family has called on the University to fire Tracey, as well they should. According to the WaPo:
A university spokesman said that by law the school is unable to comment at this point in the process, beyond the public statement that university officials posted Wednesday:
“Today, James Tracy, an associate professor in the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, was served a Notice of Proposed Discipline — Termination by the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Florida Atlantic University.
Would you want this inhumane human being teaching you or your kid? What is wrong with people? Perhaps the rest of us should get in the act also and demand that James Tracy be fired.
What is the bright line test that differentiates academic freedom from punishment by mob? For all I know this could be an unorthodox research technique that will help us learn what drives people to believe conspiracy theories.
I don’t think anyone has a legal obligation to walk on eggshell making sure others are not offended by what one writes or says. However, an employee does have the obligation not to trash the reputation of his employer, or risk being fired. If the denier project was personal and no mention is made of the author’s employer, then I would oppose the firing if the reason was solely because his words hurt others deeply.
Maybe he is autistic and has no mental capacity for empathy.
Mr Tracy crossed the line when he contacted Sandy Hook family members demanding proof. That is far outside th bounds of academic freedom.
No kidding. I think he should have been given a 5 minute due process hearing and then terminated.
I am not so sure about academic freedom. I think there should be strong limits. What is taught should reflect the values of the institution somewhat.
Personally, I think being left alone in the room with Sandy Hook fathers for about 5 unsupervised minutes……is perfectly appropriate.
And then fire him.
I might suggest also perhaps the mothers would be more deadly.
I like Cargo’s idea. That might work. Why would a person take the position that those children weren’t killed?
We live in such a bizarre age when it comes to information. Senator Moynihan used to say that one is entitled to one’s own opinion, but not to one’s own facts. It seems we have now entered a world where a lot of folks have no inhibition about making up their own facts after they form their opinions. Designer facts.
This is what is causing a lot of the BS. Bad reporting in the FBI UCR
Allegations regarding FBI statistics
Based on an inconsistency in Connecticut crime statistics pointed out on the Infowars website, in which the statistics “curiously appear to show that no murders occurred in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012,” theorists have asserted that the FBI admits that no murders took place. However, the Sandy Hook murders are accounted for under “State Police Misc” rather than being attributed to Newtown, based on the Connecticut State Police being the primary investigating agency. The total of 146 statewide deaths include the 26 deaths at Sandy Hook and Lanza’s mother.[30]
It would seem that a college professor, even one at Florida Atlantic University, might be able to figure out what Cargo so clearly just described.
Last night we get Hillary’s ISIS recruiting videos of Trump’s rants (although in this instance, she’s probably just projecting something that will indeed happen), and before that Cruz’s “tens of thousands” of Syrian refugees, and Trump’s eyewitness account of thousands of Jersey City Muslims celebrating the Twin Towers destruction. The list could go on at some length. People just make things up and assume that it’s OK if it fits their world view.
They also don’t mind being called out on it. On the other hand, there isn’t enough money to make me run for office at any level.
Dr. Tracy (PhD Iowa) has a longtime reputation as a conspiracy guy. He has addressed in his private blogs conspiracy theories for almost every major US event going back to the Kennedy assassination. As an FAU associate prof for media communications, he has even taught a course entitled “Culture of Conspiracy.” FAU jumped on him in 2013 for including their name in his blog posts on the Newtown events. He had supposedly agreed to stop that and got a standard letter of reprimand for it. But it looks like he may have gone too far this time.
Maybe he will claim it is all a conspiracy against him.
It sounds like he should have been purged a long time ago. People like that take on a larger than life image for a college of university.