Lenny Pozner with his children, Arielle, Noah, and Sophia.
When I first began my in-depth study of the Sandy Hook Tragedy, I was a much different person. I entertained the idea that everything was not as it seemed, I needed answers. I believed "Sandy Hoax" people were acting in good faith. I had no personal attachment to the events of that day other than generally being touched, as we all were, at the scope of the tragedy.
That is all different now. Without bragging, I consider myself one of the most well read people on the Newtown Tragedy, having studied the 7000 +/- pages, video, and photo in available report and every major "hoax theory" out there; with that knowledge, I absolutely know Adam Lanza entered that school and did the unthinkable; matched only in scope by War Crime level events. I know the leadership caste of the Sandy Hoax people are scammers, photoshopping "evidence" and overtly lying; fraudulently pushing their absurd theories to a growing crowd using Youtube and blogs as a forum for their deception and madness. And I have met online and by email a few of the people, collateral victims, personally affected that day; some of whom I've promised complete confidentiality too. I will maintain my promises to them forever. In this respect, I too am personally affected.
I've been given permission to publish a writing of Lenny Pozner. A writing that touched my heart. I have had many conversations with Lenny on the phone and by email and while we have never met face-to-face, I have a tremendous amount of respect for this man and yes, I consider him a friend.
On December 14, 2012 Lenny's remarkable son, Noah was shot and killed in Room 8 of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Noah's twin sister, Arielle, was huddled in the restroom of Classroom 12, sheltered by the quick thinking her teacher of Kaitlin Roig. His older daughter Sophia was in the classroom right next to where Adam stood ejecting live rounds onto floor of the the hallway immediately after killing Noah, Noah's teachers, and his classmates. If there had been any delay in response or things had been a little different, Lenny could have lost all three of his children that day. They were all in the immediate zone of danger.
From that day, the story is a remarkable one of perseverance and learning to live with anguish and post traumatic stress. The weight of losing a child is enough to end the will of many parents. Lenny not only took on the stress we all have, that of life and supporting a family and raising Sophia and Arielle, but he struggled against additional adversity heaped upon him by the weight of world wide interest, an eager press careless with facts, unscrupulous members of his extended family, con-artists attempting to cash in on the tragedy using his name, and the relentless attacks of Sandy Hook "Hoaxer" conspiracy theorists; many of these tribulations continue to this day.
Today, Lenny Pozner stands strong. Today, Lenny Pozner is one of the few parents of Sandy Hook that will engage you; privately he will answer your questions and do so frankly. He is not in hiding. He fights the good fight.
If you follow Lenny on Google, you will see he often posts new photos of Noah, Noah with Lenny, Noah with his mother, Noah with his sisters, other family photos, words of wisdom, interesting links and quips. Many of the photos he posts will break your heart.
Lenny has 1.5 million views on his +Google page, speaking to his willingness to allow you in. When I speak with him, I don't pretend to be able to have the words that would assuage any pain he feels. I am insignificant in comparison to his tragedy; I use my time to enjoy the conversation and to learn, not only about Sandy Hook, but about ideas and life.
I don't know how I would react to losing any of my children, least of all if any were murdered. Compound that by the months of vicious personal attacks he has withstood; I pray to God I could have one-fourth of Lenny's strength.
What is Lenny's take? Lenny says he is just a normal guy who dropped his children off at school a little late one day.
No sir. I disagree. You are a remarkable man who dropped his children at school a little late one day. You and your wife Veronique have my highest level of respect and regard.
I proudly re-post his writing, and, truth be told, do so emotionally, after having written the above.
Thank you, Lenny.
C.W. Wade
http:://www.sandyhookfacts.com
The original article is here.
You may visit Lenny's page here: www.lenpoz.com
----------------------------------------- The Article ----------------------------------------
After Tragedy, Additional Adversity for One Newtown Family
By Lenny Pozner
December 14 marked the one-year anniversary of the murder of my six-year-old son, Noah, at Sandy Hook Elementary School. High-profile anniversaries mean different things to the public than to the “Newtown parents” like me: The media is inclined to focus on stories of perseverance and progress, because that’s what the public wants to believe. The families know that healing is not a linear process. Our recovery from tragedy is detoured by unimaginable sadness, unexpected obstacles and devastating setbacks. Most days, it doesn't feel like progress at all.
Tragedy numbs you, but it also makes you alert to the kindness of neighbors and friends. In the days that followed Noah’s murder, the Newtown community came together. Friends opened up their homes to us. People helped my family and my two girls in more ways than I can describe. Their support was the norm, and we remain grateful for the community’s response.
My wife Veronique and I were so beaten down by the shockwave of grief—we were both suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)—that we really couldn't function. We faced additional challenges because Veronique and I were separated. We were living separately at that time. We shared custody, splitting the week in half. They were with me the night before. I made sure Noah and his siblings did their homework and were in bed on time. I drove Noah to school that morning.
December 14 shattered us, and left us vulnerable in ways we could not have imagined.
In the days that followed Veronique’s family flew out from the West Coast. In short order Veronique’s brother, Alexis Haller, began to meet with the media, which was hungry for any and all information on the families. He was interviewed by a number of news outlets, including the NY Daily News, the Associated Press and Anderson Cooper on CNN. In the process, we lost our voice and became spectators to our own grief.
Alexis and his wife Victoria established a website to solicit donations for our family, a trust fund for the children, and created a mailing address in Newtown for correspondence that was forwarded to them in Washington state. Victoria, who hardly knew my son, began tweeting and blogging about Noah and directing potential donors to the website. The public responded graciously, sending donations, made out to Veronique and me, or the Pozner family, along with sympathy mail and toys and teddy bears for my children. Unfortunately, none of these items made their way to us. My brother-in-law, who also hardly knew Noah, anointed himself the family spokesman and decision maker.
A series of family disputes ensued, many of which have played out in the press. When we attempted to access the donations, Alexis and his wife would not release them. We had to hire an attorney in early 2013 to gain access to and control over what rightfully belonged to our family. Still, Alexis continued to appear before the media even though I had asked him repeatedly in December and January to stop. Finally, in February we had to appeal to the press to say Alexis’ comments were his own and did not represent the views of my family. His behavior made our unimaginable hell even worse.
There were other difficulties that did not make the news, thankfully. A month or so after Noah’s murder, Veronique received a letter from her ex-husband attempting to gain more control of finances based on their divorce 13 years earlier. He threatened to take her to court.
At about the same time, I was sued by someone with whom I had a business dispute three years earlier. When he read that a charity was distributing several million dollars to the Sandy Hook families, he assumed every family was receiving millions of dollars and sued me for $100,000. By this point Veronique and I had engaged multiple attorneys: two to deal with Alexis, one for the ex-husband, and one for my ex-business associate, all while mending a fractured marriage, and tending to a parent in the last stages of a terminal illness. We moved through our days in a fog.
These problems were unique to our household. Others affected all the Newtown families. The media coverage, for example, was often inaccurate, especially with regard to the details around the shooting, sometimes fueling crazy conspiracy theorists I've read about and encountered.
Earlier this year, I stopped at a major chain hotel with my family in tow. I was in the process of registering when the twenty-something girl at the counter looked at my driver’s license and said, “Oh, Sandy Hook. The government did that.” I was able to shrug it off—she obviously didn't know who I was—but it was painful to hear such a misguided opinion.
Such attitudes are driven in part by inaccuracies in the media. One article in the Jewish Daily Forward written the day after the shooting stated that Noah had been shot 11 times, which was untrue. I asked the reporter to make a correction and she refused. This inaccuracy became a fact that was repeated in future coverage, referenced numerous times as an extreme example of crimes committed with semi-automatic weapons. I even heard that politicians referenced it in their speeches, using this ‘fact’ to further their agendas. But this was my son they were talking about, and they were getting it wrong.
Finally, there are the inevitable scams. Nouel Alba, a woman in the Bronx, posed as Noah’s aunt—Alexis’ wife Victoria Haller—and solicited donations for what she referred to as a “funeral fund.” In truth, Noah was buried within two days of the shooting, as is Jewish tradition. In October of this year, Alba was convicted of fraud and sentenced to eight months in prison.
Veronique and I no longer live in the Newtown area. After December 14, it was apparent we would need to start a new life elsewhere. The murder of our son brought us back together. The life we were living before December 14 no longer applied. Whatever our values were back then—whatever compelled us to seek a divorce—was no longer important to us on December 15.
Now, as we close in on the anniversary, the days get even harder. On November 20 we celebrated the seventh birthday of Noah’s twin sister, Arielle, and that was very tough. We made it a positive day because it’s her birthday. We had a cake for Arielle and we added seven candles for Noah. Arielle made a wish for herself and another for Noah.
We are braced for the wave of attention that will inevitably accompany this horrific anniversary. We know we can do nothing to stop it. We know that this attention will focus on things that have more to do with various agendas and pat conclusions than with the murder victims, including Noah, who would have just turned seven.
As draining as 2013 has been for me and Veronique, we are optimistic that the worst is behind us. We will finally properly honor and mourn Noah. A killer took from us our son, and family members took from us our energy to grieve, but no one can take away our memories of Noah and our determination to keep him alive in our hearts.
Lenny Pozner
By Lenny Pozner
December 14 marked the one-year anniversary of the murder of my six-year-old son, Noah, at Sandy Hook Elementary School. High-profile anniversaries mean different things to the public than to the “Newtown parents” like me: The media is inclined to focus on stories of perseverance and progress, because that’s what the public wants to believe. The families know that healing is not a linear process. Our recovery from tragedy is detoured by unimaginable sadness, unexpected obstacles and devastating setbacks. Most days, it doesn't feel like progress at all.
Tragedy numbs you, but it also makes you alert to the kindness of neighbors and friends. In the days that followed Noah’s murder, the Newtown community came together. Friends opened up their homes to us. People helped my family and my two girls in more ways than I can describe. Their support was the norm, and we remain grateful for the community’s response.
My wife Veronique and I were so beaten down by the shockwave of grief—we were both suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)—that we really couldn't function. We faced additional challenges because Veronique and I were separated. We were living separately at that time. We shared custody, splitting the week in half. They were with me the night before. I made sure Noah and his siblings did their homework and were in bed on time. I drove Noah to school that morning.
December 14 shattered us, and left us vulnerable in ways we could not have imagined.
In the days that followed Veronique’s family flew out from the West Coast. In short order Veronique’s brother, Alexis Haller, began to meet with the media, which was hungry for any and all information on the families. He was interviewed by a number of news outlets, including the NY Daily News, the Associated Press and Anderson Cooper on CNN. In the process, we lost our voice and became spectators to our own grief.
Alexis and his wife Victoria established a website to solicit donations for our family, a trust fund for the children, and created a mailing address in Newtown for correspondence that was forwarded to them in Washington state. Victoria, who hardly knew my son, began tweeting and blogging about Noah and directing potential donors to the website. The public responded graciously, sending donations, made out to Veronique and me, or the Pozner family, along with sympathy mail and toys and teddy bears for my children. Unfortunately, none of these items made their way to us. My brother-in-law, who also hardly knew Noah, anointed himself the family spokesman and decision maker.
A series of family disputes ensued, many of which have played out in the press. When we attempted to access the donations, Alexis and his wife would not release them. We had to hire an attorney in early 2013 to gain access to and control over what rightfully belonged to our family. Still, Alexis continued to appear before the media even though I had asked him repeatedly in December and January to stop. Finally, in February we had to appeal to the press to say Alexis’ comments were his own and did not represent the views of my family. His behavior made our unimaginable hell even worse.
There were other difficulties that did not make the news, thankfully. A month or so after Noah’s murder, Veronique received a letter from her ex-husband attempting to gain more control of finances based on their divorce 13 years earlier. He threatened to take her to court.
At about the same time, I was sued by someone with whom I had a business dispute three years earlier. When he read that a charity was distributing several million dollars to the Sandy Hook families, he assumed every family was receiving millions of dollars and sued me for $100,000. By this point Veronique and I had engaged multiple attorneys: two to deal with Alexis, one for the ex-husband, and one for my ex-business associate, all while mending a fractured marriage, and tending to a parent in the last stages of a terminal illness. We moved through our days in a fog.
These problems were unique to our household. Others affected all the Newtown families. The media coverage, for example, was often inaccurate, especially with regard to the details around the shooting, sometimes fueling crazy conspiracy theorists I've read about and encountered.
Earlier this year, I stopped at a major chain hotel with my family in tow. I was in the process of registering when the twenty-something girl at the counter looked at my driver’s license and said, “Oh, Sandy Hook. The government did that.” I was able to shrug it off—she obviously didn't know who I was—but it was painful to hear such a misguided opinion.
Such attitudes are driven in part by inaccuracies in the media. One article in the Jewish Daily Forward written the day after the shooting stated that Noah had been shot 11 times, which was untrue. I asked the reporter to make a correction and she refused. This inaccuracy became a fact that was repeated in future coverage, referenced numerous times as an extreme example of crimes committed with semi-automatic weapons. I even heard that politicians referenced it in their speeches, using this ‘fact’ to further their agendas. But this was my son they were talking about, and they were getting it wrong.
Finally, there are the inevitable scams. Nouel Alba, a woman in the Bronx, posed as Noah’s aunt—Alexis’ wife Victoria Haller—and solicited donations for what she referred to as a “funeral fund.” In truth, Noah was buried within two days of the shooting, as is Jewish tradition. In October of this year, Alba was convicted of fraud and sentenced to eight months in prison.
Veronique and I no longer live in the Newtown area. After December 14, it was apparent we would need to start a new life elsewhere. The murder of our son brought us back together. The life we were living before December 14 no longer applied. Whatever our values were back then—whatever compelled us to seek a divorce—was no longer important to us on December 15.
Now, as we close in on the anniversary, the days get even harder. On November 20 we celebrated the seventh birthday of Noah’s twin sister, Arielle, and that was very tough. We made it a positive day because it’s her birthday. We had a cake for Arielle and we added seven candles for Noah. Arielle made a wish for herself and another for Noah.
We are braced for the wave of attention that will inevitably accompany this horrific anniversary. We know we can do nothing to stop it. We know that this attention will focus on things that have more to do with various agendas and pat conclusions than with the murder victims, including Noah, who would have just turned seven.
As draining as 2013 has been for me and Veronique, we are optimistic that the worst is behind us. We will finally properly honor and mourn Noah. A killer took from us our son, and family members took from us our energy to grieve, but no one can take away our memories of Noah and our determination to keep him alive in our hearts.
Lenny Pozner
2 comments:
I'm pretty new to this Sandy Hook hoax thing. But I try to keep an open mind -- I want to know the facts.
I know the leadership caste of the Sandy Hoax people are scammers,...
So in your view, who are the people who make up this "leadership caste"? Also, how do they benefit from claiming -- and spending their time attempting to show -- that Sandy Hook was a hoax? As opposed to the rather numerous charities set up after Sandy Hook, from which many appear to have benefited financially.
I have never forgotten Noah because of the beautiful eulogy your wife dedicated to Noah the day of his funeral. I'm very sorry to hear that you had so many problems with both family and press. Moving away from Sandy Hook was a wise decision. I wish you and your children smooth sailing in the years ahead.
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