Pozner v. Fetzer · Dane County, Wisconsin

Sandy Hook Hoax Debunked: What the Court Found

This page explains the false “Sandy Hook hoax” claims that led to a Wisconsin defamation case, and what the court found.

What the hoax claims said

After the shooting, some people claimed it was staged. They said the children and parents were not real, or were paid actors. Those claims are often called the “Sandy Hook hoax” or the “Sandy Hook shooting hoax.” They are false.

James Fetzer, a retired professor living in Wisconsin, helped edit a book titled Nobody Died at Sandy Hook. The subtitle of the second edition, published in 2016, is “It Was a FEMA Drill to Promote Gun Control.” In court papers, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals described Fetzer’s position this way: that the shooting was an “elaborate hoax,” that no one was killed, and that part of the hoax was the invention of a “fiction[al]” child named Noah.

To show that Noah lived and died, Leonard Pozner posted a certified copy of Noah’s death certificate online. Fetzer then published statements about that document. In the 2016 book, Fetzer published this statement: “Noah Pozner’s death certificate is a fake, which we have proven on a dozen or more grounds.” He also called it a “forgery” and a “fabrication.” In an August 5, 2018 blog post, he repeated the fabrication claim and said the document combined “the bottom half of a real death certificate and the top half of a fake.”

Fetzer kept making the same claim in court. At a hearing on June 4, 2019, he told the judge:

“Nobody died at Sandy Hook, Your Honor. This was a FEMA drill that was presented … as a mass shooting to promote gun control.”

— James Fetzer, June 4, 2019 hearing, as quoted by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (2021)

Saying it in court did not make it true. The case that followed tested those published statements about the death certificate, not every rumor on the internet.

What the evidence and the court found

The shooting was real. Connecticut’s official investigation documented the attack and the deaths. In this Wisconsin case, the court record also included proof of Noah’s life and death.

That record included a certified copy of Noah’s birth certificate, which states that he was born on November 20, 2006, at Danbury Hospital. It included certified medical records from that hospital. It included a certified copy of the report filed by Connecticut’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. That report describes a post-mortem examination on December 15, 2012. It identifies three gunshot wounds and lists the cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds. It states that Noah, age 6, died at 12 Dickinson Drive, Sandy Hook, Connecticut, the address of the school.

A licensed Connecticut funeral director, Abraham Green, also gave the court a sworn statement. He said his funeral home received Noah’s remains from the medical examiner, prepared Noah’s body, and held the funeral.

As for the death certificate itself, Pozner told the court that the copy he posted was one of several certified copies issued to him by the Newtown records clerk in 2013. He said he had not filled in any of the boxes on the certificate. He redacted Noah’s Social Security number and the location of the grave before posting it, for privacy and safety. Some hoaxers had threatened to dig up the grave.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals later noted that the copy Pozner released matched the certificate certified by the Newtown registrar, except for those privacy redactions and for address lines that the registrar later corrected, as stated on the certificate. At the summary judgment hearing, Pozner’s lawyer handed the judge the original certified copies. The judge noted the embossed seals on the documents.

Fetzer had pointed to things like a missing file number, differences in tone and texture, and variations in font size. At the same hearing, he told the court that those reasons “do not appear to have been right.” The appeals court noted that he then said the reasons given in the book and blog were “wrong.”

On June 18, 2019, Circuit Court Judge Frank D. Remington granted Pozner’s motion for summary judgment. In plain terms, the judge ruled on the written record that Fetzer and Mike Palecek had defamed Pozner by publishing those statements. The amount of money, if any, was left for a jury. Claims against Palecek and the book’s publisher, Wrongs Without Wremedies, LLC, had already ended in settlements and were dismissed.

On October 15, 2019, a Dane County jury awarded Leonard Pozner $450,000. On December 17, 2019, the court entered a permanent injunction (Document 354). That order bars Fetzer from communicating four of the defamatory statements by any means. On July 27, 2020, the court entered an Amended Judgment (Document 443) of $1,107,395.13. That total includes the $450,000 jury award, $650,000 in attorneys’ fees ordered by the court and agreed to by the parties, and $7,395.13 in fees and costs.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment and orders on March 18, 2021. The Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to review the case. The U.S. Supreme Court later denied Fetzer’s petition and denied rehearing. To help satisfy the judgment, the court also ordered that Fetzer’s interest in the copyright and title of Nobody Died at Sandy Hook be transferred to Pozner, effective June 24, 2022. Leonard Pozner now holds that copyright. The book may not be copied or used without his written permission.

Timeline of the court rulings

1. November 2018

   Leonard Pozner files the defamation lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court, case 2018CV003122.

2. June 18, 2019

   The court grants Pozner’s motion for summary judgment. The judge holds that statements calling Noah’s death certificate fake, forged, or fabricated are defamation.

3. October 15, 2019

   A Dane County jury awards Pozner $450,000 in damages. News coverage of the verdict is collected on this site’s News page.

4. December 17, 2019

   Judge Remington enters a permanent injunction (Document 354) that bars Fetzer from repeating four of the defamatory statements.

5. July 27, 2020

   The court enters an Amended Judgment (Document 443) of $1,107,395.13.

6. March 18, 2021

   The Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirms the judgment and orders (Appeal Nos. 2020AP121 and 2020AP1570).

7. February 16, 2022

   The Wisconsin Supreme Court declines to review the case. See the summary on HONR Network’s legal achievements page.

8. June 24, 2022

   By court order, Fetzer’s interest in the copyright and title of Nobody Died at Sandy Hook is transferred to Leonard Pozner. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals later affirmed that turnover order, on September 14, 2023.

9. October 3 and December 5, 2022

   The U.S. Supreme Court denies Fetzer’s petition (No. 21-7916) and then denies rehearing.

The full court file is on the Documents page. Each key ruling above links to its page on this site, or to the official record, so you can read the papers yourself.

Why this still matters

Hoax claims are not a harmless difference of opinion. They go after people who have already lost a child, and they try to erase the child’s life from the public record.

In his affidavit in this case, Leonard Pozner said he first hoped the Sandy Hook hoaxers would move on. They did not. He said he was regularly harassed, and that their theories threatened to erase Noah’s history. That is why he posted the death certificate: to show that Noah “was a real boy who actually lived and actually died.” He also said he suffered humiliation and anguish from being accused of releasing a fake certificate in order to deceive the public.

After the jury’s award, Pozner said the case was not about taking away anyone’s right to be wrong. As reported by the BBC, he said victims have “the right … to be free from defamation, free from harassment and free from the intentional infliction of terror.”

The harm has not been limited to words on a screen. In 2017, a Florida woman was sentenced to prison after sending Pozner death threats that grew out of hoax websites. False claims about a massacre can put surviving families in danger, years after the funerals.

Where to get help

HONR Network helps people facing online abuse, not only Sandy Hook families. Lenny Pozner founded HONR in 2014. The group works to have harassing or hoax content taken down when it breaks platform rules or the law, and it supports people who are being targeted.

• Email HONR at [email protected].
• Use the HONR contact page.
• To report a hoax or hate post, use HONR’s Reporting Online Hate page. Save the link and a screenshot first. Do not share the post to argue with it.
• If someone is in danger, contact the police.