Passed out. All sorts of events happening. We are pleased to be joined by eliz we are pleased to be joined as a writer with the wall street journal Elizabeth Williamson how tough was it to write this book and research and alone . It took a while. Obviously a oh a great debt to the families of the sandy hook victims who were keen to tell this story and consequently very forthcoming with me and trusted me with the story. That was a real privilege. Host this happened december 2012 they did not speak publicly very much am i correct . Initially a couple of them had made some comments and actually they were used against them by conspiracy theorists. So you are right they ended up to be quietet because remember, these were very private people, not public figures not speaking to the media previously. So consequently when they gave interviews they were completely unprepared for the fact conspiracy theorist to said the sandy hook shooting never happened it was the pretext by the government and seized on their words and twisted them in portraying them as actors so it did lead to a lot of silence. Host how did what the family said initially become Conspiracy Theory . One father in particular when he went to make a statement on behalf of his family about his daughter just speaking about who she was as a child and the gratitude for the outpouring of sympathy they had already received, this was the night after the shooting as he stepped to the microphone he thought he would be addressing one camera crew and it turned out to bsc of cameras and reporters he gave a nervous laugh not knowing whatpo to do with that was portrayed why would a grieving father whoth just lost his sixyearold daughter be laughing and then that was spun into a plot for years. Host alex jones took a leading role in the plot . Yes. Within hours he was spinning a narrative this was the pretext for draconian can measures. Host what was your review . Obviously it will be appealed. It was a hefty judgment of 50 million. There is some question if they will for the first time for sandy hook parents to face off with alex jones in court and confronted with the damage that his lies had caused. Host do you think he believes this is not a conspiracy . He has acknowledge it occurred and that the 26 victims died that what he does do is say that and then winks and nods to the audience. Many believe that some people ask me all the time does he believe the shooting actually happened . The answer is it doesnt matter what he believed he has an audience of tens of millions of people and manyy of them do believe it did not occur and ared willing to defend that this truth with confrontation. Host how long did it take the sandy hook families to trust you . A couple of months maybe . The father of the youngest victim was very leery at first and as a central character in the book. The person who saw the sandy hook Conspiracy Theory as a story of miss truth then disinformation is gain traction in our society. Dealing with the media more, very concerned the broader story is portrayed accurately. And to get to know each other. The Parker Family moved to the pacific northwest, lenny pozner and vernie delarosa are the parents of the youngest sandy hook victim have had to move a dozen times trying to escape the people who put their personal information and address online. As soon as they would move, someone would post their address and they have to move again. They live many hundred miles from the sandy hook area. Have you suffered repercussions because of this . And nothing that really bothers me nothing that really bothers me. Let me put it that way. Did you try to talk to all families . There only two families, only two families that make contact with the father of the gunman. One found that conversation very satisfying and cathartic. Another did not find it helpful. Because most of the families did not make contact, i did not do so either. I do quote an interview from the new yorker with the father of the gunman as a means of explaining who this family is. And also neil said tuesday of the gunman and i described that interaction. How do conspiracy theories, this is not the first one. This is one of the bizarre ones . The significance of this particular Conspiracy Theory is that it began a decade in which we have seen this information, conspiracy theories, and false narratives really ramp up and surge in our society. Part of the is the uptake in social media. People who spread these theories that way. Part of it is we have had a conspiracy minded president immediately preceding jill biden. Who saw in this group of people who are suspicious of the government and who are inclined to be distrustful of everything from the federal government to traditional medicine, he has found a vital constituency. Clint has contributed to the fact that every mass shooting generates conspiracy theories and in fact a fifth of americans believe that every highprofile mass shooting was staged. 1 5 . 1 5. What is at the site of the Sandy Hook Elementary School . They built a new school in its place. That was a significant undertaking. It is quite a state of the art school, it is secure, it is beautiful and combing. It was built near the site of the original school. Where the murders actually occurred has been preserved and not really as a park but as an unmarked space. It is not called to mind because children go to the school. It is built immediately behind the original site. Can you talk to the families after the uvalde shooting . Some of them reached out to me and exchanged messages in the hours after the shooting. They had a range of reactions. Some were angry, there were certainly sad, they are also worried about the families of the victims. Sandy hook sandy hook an american tragedy is the name of the book, dan is coming in from brooklyn. Go ahead, dan. I keep wondering about the perpetrator. Over the years, we have learned to characterize him. He was autistic or something . Usually people like that are not prone to this kind of an personal random violence impersonal random violence. Also, i wanted to know if you think that there is an understanding of this kind of problem from outside the schools that results in better security in schools . In all of the cases, all the way to texas, that seems to be the poorest part. Art has a officers there reacting preoccupied with some other security aspects . I think we got the point, thank you. The shooters psychological makeup and School Security . Significant red flags were raised by Mental Health professionals and by the people in the gunmans world. People speak a lot about the fact he was diagnosed with autism but in fact at the time at the shooting he was engaged in a profound Mental Health struggle that had little to do with autism. He was living in a smaller world, he was isolated and he was struggling with a lot of demons. As to the School Safety issue, a number of the sandy hook families have engaged in different efforts including an effort to improve safety in schools also to reach out and teach compassion and empathy and social Emotional Learning. Scarlet lewis, the mother of jesse lewis is engaged in something called the jesse lewis to the Love Movement which teaches social Emotional Learning in schools to try to mitigate factors that lead to Mental Health struggles in children. It has been 10 years since this happened. Sarah, san diego. Go ahead. I am so sorry for your loss, first off. Bless you. Recently, i had a sort of epiphany about possibly creating a crowd source for people to give money to people in congress who are running for congress who commit to not taking any money from the nra. Do you know anybody who i would contact for that type of endeavor . Deal and be clear, she did not lose a Family Member at sandy hook. Thank you and to be clear, she did not lose a Family Member. Thank you sarah. They think to respond to it when it comes to the nra . I appreciate that compassion for the families, who lost children and educators at sandy hook, thank you. On the nra issue, i deliberately do not engage in the current policy debate in the book because i focus on the spirit of this and disinformation in society. On misinformation and disinformation in society. I am sorry, i cannot help you but some of the parents are very much engaged in that issue. I would encourage you to seek them out. The next call is there in drums, pennsylvania. Is larry in drums, pennsylvania. On the subject of books and classifications, i was wondering if all of the books that were put out attacking President Donald Trump with a bunch of misinformation included in them, are these books considered fiction . Are they considered fact . Even though there are few facts in them . I was wondering if there are any books out there in regards to president joe bidens Mental Health and capacity and what the findings let us take the first part of that question. The reporting that was done about the socalled russian hoax or the russian connection. Would you classify that as a Conspiracy Theory . Conspiracy theories are bipartisan. If was often before the trump era, people tended to say that you could find more conspiracy theories on you could find more conspiracy theoriesnd around jfk that i waive you conspiracy theories as a bipartisan phenomenon and i think that is the facts. But the other thing is that you have to distinguish conspiracy theories that are true and those that are false. Only research and reputable factfinding can make that distinction. You said one fifth of americans believe a all mess shootings are created or fake. How do you combat that quick. Thats a great question is difficult to combat when people have already embraced the Conspiracy Theory its difficult to talk them out of it. But what has happened lately there has been some research to inoculate people against believing in conspiracy theories orhe recognizing them and that has been very helpful to people as long as they can identify before they embrace and that is more successful. Host appearing in longer form talking about her book you can watch that online anytime at the tv thank you for your time today