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| Newtown Conspiracy Theorist Sues University That Fired Him | Newtown Conspiracy Theorist Sues University That Fired Him |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| A professor who gained notoriety by questioning whether the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and other bloody crimes were hoaxes perpetrated by the government has sued a Florida university for firing him, saying that he was targeted for exercising his right to free speech. | A professor who gained notoriety by questioning whether the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and other bloody crimes were hoaxes perpetrated by the government has sued a Florida university for firing him, saying that he was targeted for exercising his right to free speech. |
| The professor, James Tracy, filed suit on Monday in Federal District Court against Florida Atlantic University, where he taught for 13 years, and United Faculty of Florida, the union that had represented him. | The professor, James Tracy, filed suit on Monday in Federal District Court against Florida Atlantic University, where he taught for 13 years, and United Faculty of Florida, the union that had represented him. |
| The university, a state institution based in Boca Raton, dismissed Mr. Tracy in January from his tenured position as an associate professor of communications for failing to submit forms documenting the work he did outside the university. | The university, a state institution based in Boca Raton, dismissed Mr. Tracy in January from his tenured position as an associate professor of communications for failing to submit forms documenting the work he did outside the university. |
| It was that work, writing for an alternative news site and for his blog, that drew attention to Mr. Tracy and led to pressure to oust him after the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in which 20 first graders and six adults were killed. | It was that work, writing for an alternative news site and for his blog, that drew attention to Mr. Tracy and led to pressure to oust him after the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in which 20 first graders and six adults were killed. |
| He wrote, “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, “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 asserted that evidence of multiple gunmen had been suppressed, and that parents seen outside the school might have been “trained actors working under the direction of state and federal authorities.” | He asserted that evidence of multiple gunmen had been suppressed, and that parents seen outside the school might have been “trained actors working under the direction of state and federal authorities.” |
| In his suit, Mr. Tracy accused Florida Atlantic of violating his right to free speech and retaliating against him for exercising that right. He also claimed that the union had colluded with the university to deny him due process. The university said it could not comment, and the union did not reply to messages. | In his suit, Mr. Tracy accused Florida Atlantic of violating his right to free speech and retaliating against him for exercising that right. He also claimed that the union had colluded with the university to deny him due process. The university said it could not comment, and the union did not reply to messages. |
| The suit contends that the university’s requirement to declare outside activities “is unconstitutionally overbroad and vague” and “impermissibly restricts faculty expression and freedom of speech.” | The suit contends that the university’s requirement to declare outside activities “is unconstitutionally overbroad and vague” and “impermissibly restricts faculty expression and freedom of speech.” |
| Mr. Tracy’s writings about Newtown drew particular attention and scorn from around the country — and, he contends, bullying and harassment, including by his fellow faculty members. | Mr. Tracy’s writings about Newtown drew particular attention and scorn from around the country — and, he contends, bullying and harassment, including by his fellow faculty members. |
| But he has made similar allegations about events like the mass shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., in 2012; the Washington Navy Yard shooting and the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013; and the massacre at a holiday meeting in December in San Bernardino, Calif. He suggested that the Obama administration had staged them to promote its gun control agenda. | But he has made similar allegations about events like the mass shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., in 2012; the Washington Navy Yard shooting and the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013; and the massacre at a holiday meeting in December in San Bernardino, Calif. He suggested that the Obama administration had staged them to promote its gun control agenda. |
| Florida Atlantic disciplined Mr. Tracy in 2013, saying that he had not taken enough care to distance those views from the university. Some academic and free-speech groups came to his defense, saying that he had a right to unorthodox or offensive views. | Florida Atlantic disciplined Mr. Tracy in 2013, saying that he had not taken enough care to distance those views from the university. Some academic and free-speech groups came to his defense, saying that he had a right to unorthodox or offensive views. |
| The furor flared again in December when Lenny and Veronique Pozner, the parents of Noah Pozner, who was 6 when he was killed at Newtown, wrote an opinion piece in The Sun Sentinel, a Florida newspaper. In it, they wrote that Mr. Tracy had demanded that they prove that Noah ever existed, that they were his parents and that they owned the rights to photographs of him. The professor, they said, “personally sought to cause our family pain and anguish.” | |
| Last fall, Mr. Tracy, a former president of the faculty union, protested the university’s requirement that he fill out a form listing his outside work, whether paid or unpaid. | Last fall, Mr. Tracy, a former president of the faculty union, protested the university’s requirement that he fill out a form listing his outside work, whether paid or unpaid. |
| He said that the disclosure rule should not apply to unpaid work like his controversial writings, and that they did not reflect on his scholarly work. | He said that the disclosure rule should not apply to unpaid work like his controversial writings, and that they did not reflect on his scholarly work. |
| The university gave him a deadline to file three years’ worth of disclosure forms, and the union advised him to comply and then challenge the policy. He filed the paperwork a day late. | The university gave him a deadline to file three years’ worth of disclosure forms, and the union advised him to comply and then challenge the policy. He filed the paperwork a day late. |
| The university dismissed him in January, citing the disclosure issue, and saying that he had once again failed to fully separate his views from his role at Florida Atlantic. | The university dismissed him in January, citing the disclosure issue, and saying that he had once again failed to fully separate his views from his role at Florida Atlantic. |