It was one of the worst school shootings in American history, but some people insist that the Sandy Hook massacre never happened. They post YouTube videos and spread rumours online, and their false theories have been repeated by a media mogul conspiracy theorist who has been linked to Donald Trump. Now, after years of harassment, the families of the victims are fighting back online.
Leonard Pozner clicks on a YouTube video showing his street and the outside of his home. The camera zooms in on his balcony, and his address and a route to his door flash up on the screen. There's no narration on the video - but there doesn't need to be. The message is clear: 'We know where you live.' Because of videos like this one - there are dozens on YouTube, and more appear every day - Pozner doesn't want to disclose the city where he now lives. He's had death threats and has moved several times in recent years.
Leonard Pozner has been targeted because he's fought back against trolls and conspiracy theorists who make sweeping and false allegations about the murder of his son. 'Noah was just a regular six-year-old child,' says Leonard. 'I dropped him off that morning - it really was an ordinary day of getting the kids ready for school. Then an hour-and-a-half later it was just the worst nightmare. Worse than any nightmare I could have imagined.'
The nightmare began on 14 December 2012 when a young man named Adam Lanza killed his mother and then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School. In a matter of minutes, he shot dead 20 children and six adults, before taking his own life. Despite extensive investigations and a report which determined that Lanza acted alone, conspiracy theorists have constructed a fake alternate reality in which the whole thing was an elaborate hoax, staged by the government to try to introduce strict gun control laws.
They seize on small inconsistencies between initial news reports from the chaotic scene and the facts. The more extreme among them have targeted the families of Sandy Hook victims. There have been at least two arrests linked to the hoax theories. On Wednesday, a warrant was issued for a Florida woman who is accused of harassing Lenny Pozner. 'We're a luckier family,' says Hannah D'Avino, whose sister Rachel was a behavioural therapist at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 'I personally will get about like three death threats a year because we don't speak up that much.'
Some of the conspiracy theorists are regular visitors to this small hamlet in suburban Connecticut. In addition to the death threats and harassment directed at Lenny, Hannah and others, they've made videos of the school and local area and ask questions of locals and family members, and have posted the footage on YouTube. And their theories have been picked up by one of America's most popular conspiracy theorists, a man who has been linked with President Donald Trump. The online storm has prompted Lenny to form a volunteer network to track and take down the conspiracy theory videos and websites.
