Mastermind of Sandy Hook denial arrested

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NEWTOWN - For years, a relentless Sandy Hook denial campaign waged by a retired Florida man against the grieving parents of slain children largely escaped the headlines.

But that changed on Monday when 73-year-old Wolfgang Halbig - a conspiracy extremist who some have called the mastermind of Sandy Hook denial - was arrested on a felony charge of possessing another person’s personal information.

Lenny Pozner, whose son was among the 20 first-graders and six educators murdered at Sandy Hook School in 2012, filed the complaint against Halbig, who was accused of emailing Pozner’s personal information to law enforcement and the media.

“For five years, he has used my comprehensive TransUnion report, which he gained illegally, to incentivize and enable other hoaxers and conspiracy theorists to hunt, abuse, and terrorize myself and my family,” said Pozner on Monday. “He has posted and shared my address, social security number, and some of the most private details of my life, in order to fund his terror campaign against Sandy Hook victim’s families.”

Halbig, could not be reached on Monday night at his home in Sorrento, Fla., where he is free on $5,000 bail.

Pozner, who said Halbig “is like a serial killer who wants to be stopped because he cannot stop himself,” founded the Honr Network to combat extremists such as Halbig, who Pozner calls “the most heinous of internet trolls.”

Halbig’s conspiracy theory that the worst crime in Connecticut history was a hoax got national exposure when it was promoted by Texas-based extremist Alex Jones on the internet-based Infowars show.

Jones is being sued by Sandy Hook families in three defamation cases in Texas and Connecticut for calling the Sandy Hook massacre “staged,” “synthetic,” “manufactured,” “a giant hoax” and “completely fake with actors” with “inside job written all over it.” Families charged that Jones just wanted to spike viewership and boost internet sales.

Jones has since distanced himself from Halbig, who is also named in the Connecticut suit. Jones claims he no longer believes the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.

Neil Heslin, who lost a son in the Sandy Hook massacre and is suing Jones for defamation in Texas, has also been the target of Halbig’s harassing emails.

Heslin and others have lamented that Halbig’s behavior was falling through the cracks, because he sent the emails to so many recipients at a time the messages could be interpreted as protected free speech.

“It’s good news that they finally went after him,” Heslin said.

Halbig, who represents himself in the Connecticut defamation lawsuit, is going through pretrial motions in state Superior Court. Jury selection is scheduled for November, 2020.

He is due in court in Florida on Feb. 24 to answer the felony charge.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342