sandy hook shooting

Connecticut State Police lead children from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in the aftermath of the 2012 school shooting that left 20 children and six adult staff members dead. (AP file)

A Florida college professor who has called the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School an elaborate hoax may soon lose his job.

Florida Atlantic University has begun the process of firing professor Dr. James Tracy, who claims the Dec. 14, 2012 murders of 20 students and six staff members at the Newton, Connecticut school never occurred and was instead a ruse by the government.

Tracy, a tenured communications professor at FAU, operates the blog Memory Hole, in which he details conspiracy theories behind a number of events, including Sandy Hook. To bolster his argument, Tracy points to things such as a supposed large fast food delivery at the school, something he said is indicative of a Federal Emergency Management Agency drill and photos he claims show some of the massacre's young victims after the Sandy Hook killings.

Police and the families of the victims vigorously deny Tracy's claims. Family members also said Tracy has harassed them on numerous occasions.

Lenny and Veronique Pozner, the parents of 6-year old victim Noah Pozner, said Tracy and other Sandy Hook deniers add to the pain they have experienced.

Calling him the "chief of conspiracy theorists," the Pozners said Tracy has sent the family a certified letter demanding proof that their son once lived and that they were his parents and rightful owner of a photo of their dead son.

"A plethora of conspiracies arose after Sandy Hook, but none received as much mainstream publicity as Tracy, who suggested that the shooting never occurred and the Obama administration had staged the "event" to prepare the country for strict gun control measures," the couple wrote in an op-ed for the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale.

The Pozners called on FAU to dismiss Tracy.

"FAU has a civic responsibility to ensure that it does not contribute to the ongoing persecution of the countless Americans who've lost their loved ones to high-profile acts of violence," the couple wrote.

In a Facebook post after the Pozner's op-ed, Tracy replied: "The Pozners, alas, are as phony as the drill itself, and profiting handsomely from the fake death of their son."

Calls for Tracy's dismissal increased this week as the nation marked the third anniversary of the Sandy Hook shootings. The university's social media sites were inundated with requests for the school to dismiss Tracy.

On Thursday, the university released a statement:

"Today, James Tracy, an associate professor in the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, was served a Notice of Proposed Discipline -- Termination by the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Florida Atlantic University.

"In accordance with the University's Collective Bargaining Agreement with the United Faculty of Florida union, by which the University and James Tracy are bound, faculty who receive such notice are afforded a grievance process. James Tracy has 10 days to respond to the notice after which final action may be taken."

Tracy told the New York Daily News his views are protected under the Constitution.

"I think what this really involves is a matter of free speech," he said. "All I've done is to delve into the Sandy Hook event. I think the work I've done stands up."