Lucy Richards appeared in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale yesterday. She admitted making threats to Leonard Pozner whose six-year-old son, Noah, died in the mass school shooting in Connecticut. These threats, made by emails and voicemails, told Pozner he was going to die. Richards was angry at Pozner for raising money for the victims of the school shooting she believed never happened.
The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transmission of a threat to injure. Judge James Cohn sentenced Richards to five months in jail, followed by five months of house arrest with electronic monitoring and three years of supervision. The woman is also barred from accessing websites dedicated to conspiracy theories.
Richards was initially set to plead guilty on March 29 and had reached a plea bargain to receive 30 months of supervision. But she missed court that day after she attempted suicide. She has been in custody since her subsequent arrest on Apr. 1.
On Dec. 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother. Armed with a rifle he then went to the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton Connecticut where he killed 20 elementary students and six adults. Lanza later died after shooting himself in the head.
Richards is a “Sandy Hook truther.” These truthers believe the massacre never happened and was just a false flag raised by the government. Truthers believe the government made the tragedy up so they could pass more restrictive gun laws. It is believed Pozner was singled out because he publicly opposed the truthers’ claims that the mass shooting never took place.
In sentencing Richards, Cohn noted the woman had a history of mental health problems but said he did not believe these issues had anything to do with her crime. In what has been described as a stern lecture, the judge said her crime, in part, was due to “hatred and bigotry” and called her actions “cruel and insensitive.” Cohn also said he is sure Pozner would like the shooting to be false and be able to hear his son say, “I love you, Dad.”
Judge Cohn made it clear he was not trying to deter people from what thinking what they want to think but from communicating threats based upon their beliefs.
Richards apologized, saying her heart and head were not in the right place. The woman added it was the worst mistake in her life and she was truly sorry. She specifically apologized to Pozner and Noah.
In addition to the other terms, Richards will be required to continue receiving treatment for her mental health issues.
