The Los Angeles Times reported “many residents”* of Newtown, CT, the site of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, believe Donald Trump is “nurturing the culture of exaggeration and paranoia” that leads conspiracy theorists to harass them, by not publicly denouncing Alex Jones.



After noting “President Trump and his national security advisor, Michael T. Flynn, have been open enthusiasts of Alex Jones’ Infowars,” which promotes the baseless conspiracy theory “that Sandy Hook was staged by Democrats to advance a gun control agenda,” the L.A. Times reported “The town of Newtown is drafting an official letter to the White House demanding that Trump sever his ties to Jones.”



The L.A. Times quotes an excerpt of this letter, which states “Jones repeatedly tells his listeners and viewers that he has your ears and your respect. He brags about how you called him after your victory in November. Emboldened by your victory, he continues to hurt the memories of those lost, the ability of those left behind to heal”:

If there is anything worse than losing a child, it is losing a child and having people taunt you over the loss.



That is what happened to the family of Noah Pozner, a 6-year-old with tousled brown hair and lollipop-red lips, the youngest of the 26 children and staff members gunned down in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.



In the years since the massacre that shook the country and opened new anxiety over gun violence, the family has received hate-filled calls and violent emails from people who say they know the shooting was a hoax. Photos of their son — some with pornographic and anti-Semitic content — have been distributed on websites.



[...]



President Trump and his national security advisor, Michael T. Flynn, have been open enthusiasts of Alex Jones’ Infowars, a Web-based radio and video network that has relentlessly pushed the theory that Sandy Hook was staged by Democrats to advance a gun control agenda.



An unabashed Trump supporter during the campaign, Jones says he received a personal call of thanks from the president-elect days after the election.



Although Trump has not spoken publicly about Sandy Hook, many residents here say he is nurturing the culture of exaggeration and paranoia on which conspiracy theorists thrive.



[...]



The town of Newtown is drafting an official letter to the White House demanding that Trump sever his ties to Jones.



“Jones repeatedly tells his listeners and viewers that he has your ears and your respect. He brags about how you called him after your victory in November. Emboldened by your victory, he continues to hurt the memories of those lost, the ability of those left behind to heal,” reads an excerpt of the letter that was shared recently with the news media.



Family members who lost children at Sandy Hook say they find themselves twice victimized.



[...]



“This cloud of disinformation and misinformation and fake news has been harmful to the community,’’ said Patricia Llodra, a Republican selectwoman for Newtown. “I’m not an angry person, but when I think about the hurtful things these hoaxers say, I want to ask, ‘How could you? How dare you question the pain that these families experience every day.’”

 

The L.A. Times’ report follows Alex Jones’ prior attacks on the daughter of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School principal Dawn Hochsprung, who had asked Trump to not appear on Jones’ radio show. Jones responded to this request by repeatedly defending his promotion of Sandy Hook conspiracies.

*Correction: This post originally stated that “parents of victims” of Sandy Hook felt that Trump had been “nurturing the culture of exaggeration and paranoia.”  The LA Times article actually ascribed that concern to “many residents” in the town. The article has been updated for clarity.