The Florida professor responsible for circulating many of the Sandy Hook conspiracy theories that the shooting in Newtown, Conn. was a hoax drew the ire of many Americans this week, including CNN news show host Anderson Cooper.
James Tracy, a 47-year-old tenured history professor at Florida Atlantic University, is the man responsible for propagating the conspiracy theory. The academic wrote a lengthy post on his blog - memoryholeblog.com - saying the Sandy Hook school shooting may not have happened, and even if it did, it didn't happen the way it was reported. Tracy's claim is solely based on the early conflicting, erroneous reports from the crime scene in Newtown. The professor uses the mass confusion as proof that the truth regarding the shooting has not been reported.
"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," he wrote in the blog post.
The conflicting reports Tracy references as evidence of conspiracy claimed police were either searching for or had two suspects in custody. The story then progressed to Ryan Lanza being the lone gunman in the shooting, but Ryan, the brother of actual shooter Adam Lanza, was found at his Hoboken, N.J. home, two states away from the unfurling tragedy.
Cooper wasted no time in taking the professor to task for his incendiary actions. The veteran anchor ripped into the teacher's accusations, saying, "These claims by him and others online have begun to cause deep distress to victims' families."
"There are always conspiracy theorists lurking on line who comes up with some horrifically outrageous claims. And normally, we would not dignify these claims with airtime. These claims are obviously sickening to many in Newtown who spent the past four weeks crying and console bearing friends and family members trying to figure out how to restart their lives. As I said - normally, we wouldn't mention these conspiracy theories. But it turns out one of the people who's peddling one version of this conspiracy theory is actually a tenured associate professor at Florida Atlantic University, a state university that get taxpayers' money," he said.
"To suggest that reporters on the ground didn't work to find out what happened there on the ground is beyond crazy. Everybody asked questions. That's what we do. Journalism isn't a perfect science of course, but to suggest it somehow means the shooting didn't happen, that 20 children weren't killed, that families didn't suffer and are not still suffering is beyond comprehension and obviously, deeply offensive to many," Cooper continued.
Cooper reportedly invited Tracy to appear on his program, but the professor declined, offering up a bizarre statement in his stead:
"A significant portion of the public has chosen to base its judgment of my queries on narrow preconceptions of what they believe intellectual or academic inquiry should consist of and be directed toward. Such individuals have also been quick to judge me personally based on how I have been framed by such media instead of affording my arguments related to the tragedy a less prejudicial hearing."
Tracy continues, "I maintain that many questions I raise about the Sandy Hook tragedy remain unanswered and that the American public has been under-served by the press in this important regard. I apologize for any additional anguish and grief my remarks -- and how they have been taken out of context and misrepresented -- may have caused the families who've lost loved ones on December 14."
Things only got weirder from there. Following the airing of Cooper's program, Tracy posted another antagonizing tidbit to his blog, claiming the news show host was targeting him. "Does Anderson Cooper Want James Tracey and/or His Family Members Harmed?" Tracy wrote on his blog.
For its part, FAU quickly distanced itself from Tracy following his provocative screed.
"James Tracy does not speak for the university. The website on which his post appeared is not affiliated with FAU in any way," school spokesman Lisa Metcalf said to the Sun Sentinel.