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Subscribe to RSSGene Rosen was finishing up his morning routine this past Friday when he noticed six small children sitting at the end of his driveway. He soon discovered they were some of the lucky ones to escape gunfire alive. He talks about taking them into his home and learning that their teacher, Victoria Soto, had been killed.
Retired psychologist Gene Rosen was hailed as a hero for taking six terrified first-graders into his home and giving them fruit juice during the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
The four girls and two boys told Rosen they couldn’t return to class because a man with guns had killed their teacher. Indeed Victoria Soto was among the 26 dead – 20 children and six staffers – gunned down by Adam Lanza at the Newtown, Conn., school that day.
“I comforted them because I’m a grandfather,” Rosen, 69, who lives across the street from the school, said in an appearance on TODAY after the tragedy. “They were mortified.”
Now, Rosen and his wife are scared. He says he is being harassed by so-called Sandy Hook "truthers," conspiracy theorists who believe that facts about Newtown are being covered up by the media or other forces as part of a government or anti-gun plot.
“I’m getting emails with, not direct threats, but accusations that I’m lying, that I’m a crisis actor,” Rosen told the online magazine Salon. A white supremacist message board, Salon said, had ridiculed the “emotional Jewish guy.”
New York passes major gun control law - first since Newtown massacre
A photo of Rosen's home was posted online and fake social network accounts have been created in his name, according to the report. Blog posts call him a fraud. “What is the going rate for getting involved in a gov’t sponsored hoax anyway?” said one message accusing him of acting, according to Salon.
“The quantity of the material is overwhelming,” Rosen said, adding that his wife is worried for their safety.
Rosen’s treatment is the outgrowth of Newtown shooting conspiracy theories expanding on the Internet. Such claims are even coming from sources that appear to be mainstream.
Florida Atlantic University communications professor James Tracy, who in a blog post stated, “While it sounds like an outrageous claim, one is left to inquire whether the Sandy Hook shooting ever took place – at least in the way law enforcement authorities and the nation’s news media have described.”
Or reporter Ben Swann, who questioned police accounts of the Aurora, Colo., shootings as well as the Sandy Hook massacre in an online program called “Full Disclosure.” Swann, in both instances, latches on to witness accounts reported in the early confusion of the tragedies to question whether more than one gunman was involved. There is “reason to question this whole narrative,” Swann said.
Some of the conspiracy theories blame Jewish people for roles in the Newtown tragedy. Those claims even led Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League to respond. In a blog post Foxman laments the inevitable rumor mill that sprouts up on the Internet after major disasters and tragedies that the news media is hiding the truth and that Jews or Israel play a role.
“But never in a million years did I think that the shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, an event that has so traumatized Americans and shocked people the world over, would become the latest fodder for cynical anti-Semites and anti-Israel conspiracy theorists,” Foxman wrote.
Conspiracy theories are nothing new, the ADL's Director of Investigative Research Mark Pitcavage points out, but they come in different stripes. One type is based on a single event, such as Sandy Hook, rather than a long-running series of complex machinations spanning the globe.
"What they tend to share is an incident occurs that is large and heinous, so much so that psychologically there will be people who are unwilling to accept a simple explanation for how the event took place," Pitcavage told NBC News.
Whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating John F. Kennedy 50 years ago is considered the "ultimate example."
"Psychologically people are unwilling, unprepared to accept that it was a lone gunman. So if they can't accept that, there must be some other explanation. That's why these conspiracy theories emerge."
The terrorist attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, also spawned conspiracy theories, and led to the coining of the phrase "truthers" to describe them.
Related stories:
- Connecticut school named for slain Newtown teacher
- Obama to release gun recs as early as Wednesday
- Support soars for tougher gun laws, surveys show
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I'm thinking this is a double layered conspiracy by the media. Its classic. Find some nut in a world of 300+ million, exploit them through a low level reporting media publication, start a conspiracy story that that the conspiracy theorists are out to get someone or expose something and going overboard... and ta da. Todays media loves to start a unsubstantiated story in some unknown and unread publication. Another media source at a lower level reports on that story, and another and another following the story all the way up the media food chain. By time it gets to the top, NBC is quoting ABC who is quoting CNN who is quoting NYT who is quoting Vanity Fair (?)..... and by then the original blurb is long gone, and no one can point fingers at anyone for writing a bad story. Its gone from the 10 minute news cycle but sticks in peoples heads, and no one takes the time to check the facts because by time they do... no one cares about the facts. Classic. Did this guy or "Salon" magazine present any factual evidence?
Let's ban guns and cancel the Bill of Rights, let's do it for the kids and fruit juice.
Oh god..
Only in America.
I have one word to say
- Disgusting!
too damned many crazy people see conspiracies in teacups. this horrible tragedy was caused by a whacko with a gun ,
his mother was foolish and taught him about guns, and she was killed with her own gun. she should have taken him
bowling or played billiards.
I only want to say one thing - Disgusting!
Do you feel manipulated yet?
HA!
This article is a fodder mill for the ADL (who spy on Americans for a foreign country - a matter of court record, by the way) and the promotion of water carrying propaganda by services such as NBC.
Dig up some yahoo-rightwing-gunslinging-nutbags and use them to promote the NBC view of the world.
Follow NBC and you get neocon wars, US imperialism, zionism, fewer rights, banksterism and pro-big-pharma.
What is happening to our country? The people here and their psychotic rants make me ashamed and embarrassed before the rest of the world. How I wish we had more of a preponderance of intelligent and civil forms of speech. Even within these threads, the rants, slurs and name-calling is a despicable example of lack of critical thinking and education. Rarely does a topic see a response of logic and factual information on the part of the commentators here. I'm horrified at the ever-growing percentage of human trash of the general public in the USA.
I doubt the people with logical questions are real Truthers like Vann Jones, Obama's green energy guy...oh never-mind he got fired for having communists beliefs...he is just a nobody now that appears on msnbc.
msnbc...if you progressive liberals are going to call people names how about checking your own side out first. Why complain about a man having his house, name, and address posted by others bc you in the media have already shown where this guy lived, been in his house, and exploited him many times. If you want to talk about really putting someone in danger; think about those gun-owners posted on google maps....now that's something to report on. I doubt anyone wants to harm this man that the media has shown numerous times. If the media didn't change the story so much people wouldn't have suspicions, which you guys are calling conspiracies. I, myself have listen to this man tell a few different accounts of his story, but maybe it was bc he was distraught. We just don't take the word of every news network out there....too much propaganda.
This dammed right wing lunatic fringe is going to bring upon themselves exactly the scenario that they claim to be so dammed paranoid about. They are going to force the hand of society and of the government down on themselves. They are going to take to the streets, armed and dangerous. They are the most negative force in our society today.
The nerve of them to think that our government would cause innocent children to be gunned down in their desks at school in order to build a case against them and their guns! And, the ignorance of them to think that a whole town would go along with it! These people are bat crap crazy and should never have been sold firearms.
Anybody, ANYBODY, who gives voice or vote to the repub party is part of this scenario. A citizen cannot add their voice to the repub party in any sensible manner. There is no reputable repub party to give a vote to. The non-bat crap crazy repubs have all been silenced and overtaken by senseless mobs. Their party is dead and has been replaced by angry peasants with high powered weapons and very few critical thinking skills. They are the party of ignorance, and unwarranted anger.
hanne, you still up playing on your Obama phone or do you actually have a job to go to this early? You really need to stop listening to Al Sharpton.
You need to get back on your Obamacare drugs or stop reading the text sent to you by the government on your Obama phone. If you think our current Government wouldn't sacrifice people for their agenda you are sadly mistaken. They do it everyday! Just look at the middle east. And I'm not talking about the soldiers.
If you think Obama is the answer to turning America around you are mistaken. He is giving weapons and money to Islamist extremist groups attempting to overthrow their governments but at the same time attempting to disarm the American people. Why don't we take the money he is promising and sending to Islamic country and use it in our own country!
Why has it taken so long for the government to come up with an aid package for hurrican Sandy victims but when Hamas asked for money it was sent immediately?
Mitt probably did win by a landslide if you don't count all the voters that couldn't even read but were dragged to the polls and registered on a moments notice. The only thing they knew was Obama's name, not his full name and that he gave out free phones, food stamps and help pay the rent. I don't listen to any particular person for my information, but read it all and form my own opinion and do my own research.
I don't say these people are crazy bc they have questions and they certainly have the right in America to say whatever they please. When people see some factual evidence and it is totally different from what is being reported by the media....well I wouldn't call that a conspiracy.
You people are bat crap crazy. This is pure lunacy! You have gone completely out of your minds!
You remind me of people who believe in god and the devil. Only christians believe in the devil. The devil is a manifestation of their own "evil" side. Just because YOU think that way, you assume that others do, as well.
Not all are as" evil" as that. It is only some lunatic fringe who would ever conceive of any notion to kill children as a set up to take away the guns from folks who are not doing anything dastardly with their guns. You are not that significant in the world that the world would go to such extremes to deal with you.
Those who are trying to cause more problems by making up fictional stories and blaming the Jewish people or any others have mental problems just as bad as Adam Lanza did. I suggest you run to the nearest psychologist or psychiatrist and get your head examined as to why you feel the need to spread false stories. That also goes for the mass media who are desperate to find any kind of story that makes them 'feel' better.
Obama is the one that should know what a guilty conscience is with all the abortions he backs and all the children murdered in drone attacks.
Bush wasn't being discussed at the time, but if you want to talk Bush I will. He did not kill babies in the womb or want to partake in it and he killed a man, Saddam Hussein that willingly killed his own people, men, women and CHILDREN. War is sad, no matter where, why, or how it gets started but sometimes is necessary and yes innocent people die, even little children. That is why we as a country should get all the truthful answers we can bc the hatred against half of the US that Obama and the left are infiltrating into society is going to turn into one of the worse wars we have ever seen if it doesn't stop soon. There is no sense in the media reporting stuff like this bc most of the websites posting conspiracies aren't even known by most people. We are Americans and should be above this evil propaganda.We need a leader that can take command and show some concern for the well-being of all Americans, not just those that agree with his far-fetched dreams of what he(0bama) thinks is a perfect world.
There are some real sickos living in USA!
I'm not saying this is a conspiracy or didn't happen or anything like that. I just have a few questions that haven't been answered. First of all, if Mr. Rosen lives across the street from the school why did he not here the gun fire? especially if it was from an AR15 and all of the victims were shot 3 to 11 times? My closest neighbor lives about a quarter of a mile from me and I know when he shoots one round from the opposite side of the house. 2nd, why does everyone keep saying the shooter used an AR15 when all the interviews I have watched with the police say the AR15 was locked in the trunk of the car but the media is saying that was the primary weapon? 3rd, I have never lost a child but have lost close family members and and this gentleman is more shaken/distraught over the incident than the "father" of one of the children who came out to make a speech and was laughing and joking when he thought the camera wasn't on yet. And you here him ask if we are ready and makes himself hyperventilate to appear sad. 4th, how is restricting gun ownership for the legally registered going to prevent this from happening again? Look at statistics from FBI data base. The cities and states with the highest gun violence are also the cities with the toughest gun laws. Obama wasn't able to do anything about gun violence when he was in Chicago. There are multiple shootings in Chicago daily! DAILY!!! I am a medically retired soldier who knows about weapons. I have never had a felony and have a concealed carry permit from my state of residence. I cannot walk into a store in Illinois and purchase ammunition for any weapon I own whether it be my cc weapon or for a .22 rifle. With laws like this already on the books in Illinois they still have high gun violence so what makes the people for gun control think the bad guys won't have access to them?
There is no doubt that Obama has used and manipulated the Sandy Hook tragedy to further his own agenda.
There is compelling evidence out there that will change many of your minds. For everyone saying the "truthers" are insane, you have to ask yourself have you even bothered to look into what they are saying... Or have you immediately jumped into the "these conspiracy nuts are crazy" and not even bothered to do any research for yourself. Who are you going to trust? Hard working law abiding citizens or a government that is clearly out of control and about to take away rights that have been in the constitution for over 200 years?
What a great world we live in, so many great people going above and beyond. I wonder way the Media only wants to write about the few people who want to spread nonsense ? I want to thank this wonderful man what he did in a time of what I could only imagine hell. THANKFULLY WE STILL HAVE MANY WONDERFUL PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD.
Really?? In this day and age, who can you trust with the truth. imo, You cant trust Government. It's a know Fact they Lie to us All the Time. You certainly can not trust the Main stream Media. not Only do they Blow things out of proportion. They also only tell you One side of the story, Theirs, All they care about mostly is Ratings. To some of you, You know what I'm Talking about. I have to say, That IMO, Something is not right with any of this. And I will not trust those in Power to tell the truth.
"Real Eye's Realize Real Lie's"
All you people that link Fox News to these "truther" idiots are just as idiotic as them. Don't you know that the whole "truther" label began with the left wing nutcase anti-Bush crowd accusing the government of aiding/abetting/causing the 9-11 disaster? Talk about idiotic.
Part of the problem here is the rumor mill which starts 2 seconds after a disaster occurs. Most of these rumors, such as "no assault weapon used" turn out to be wrong, which just totally confuses the matter. The news media in general is part of the problem.
Look up Sandy Hook on Google images. You'll see ONE picture of the event. 600/1200 students and faculty and yet only ONE photograph of students? It's the one we've all seen of the two teachers walking with maybe 20 students. I'm not saying that I believe any of this conspiracy stuff, but I can see why some people are questioning things.
When they rant that there where no ambulances lined up to take the injured away , do the ever consider that maybe the tools that were used in the killings worked as designed .
The tool/weapons used were not designed for target practice , they were made for inflicting great bodily injuries which is what you want if your claiming use for self defence . And they did work as designed with some kids getting up to 11 rounds in them , and with advertised rate of fire it was done in less than 3 seconds , thank Jesus they died quickly . probably bleed out in less that 5 minutes
I know the truthers would love to see the autopsy photos , to confirm whats being claimed but they would just claim photo shopping , I think some of them would pleasure themselves while viewing them , people of character like Ted Nugent and that Freak on the Internet that clutches his tool while ranting he's ready to kill . Look close and you can see his boner
So the gun designers can at least sleep better knowing their hard work paid off , their designs get a big thumbs up for efficiency
I'm just sad that none of the kids killed won't make it to heaven , most of the parents have come out for some type of talks about what can be done , that makes them liberals and we all know only Conservatives go to heaven .
These idiotic bullies are probably the same idiots who jump down anyone's throat who criticises Israel, which is full of Jews, who they hate.
My thoughts about sandy hooks is that their was not armed security officer, where was the police when it happen which tells you, don't count on the police, they did not lock the doors, they did not have survillence camaras, the teacher son was the criminal which he is a result of her and that tells alot about the other faculty in the school which is scary, i think the children's safety in that school is jeapordized even now, it seems they are there to kill the children not their safety. All those armed police officers with guns and weapons, sheriff, the swat team, and the other gun holding personnel coming after the fact just to get publicity did not and would care about the children and they would scare a child and they didn't ever care about that. I don't want to comment on this individual but he did do the right thing to protect them. Not that he is a heroe, he is just a caring person.
I will say this. The "truthers' have presented some compelling evident, however if you look into it you do begin to see some loop holes in what they are showing us.
i guess that this is what you get when the whole society around you is falling apart,only deranged people would believe such a story,however even as a teen i never did think kennedy was killed with one bullet,but i doubt if this government will ever let the story out in my time,which grows shorter every day.