Man who helped kids during Newtown shooting claims harassment
A Newtown, Connecticut man who took six children and a bus driver into his home when the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting happened last month is claiming harassment for his deed, Salon.com reported Tuesday.
Gene Rosen said he had been receiving calls from people who hang up on him and emails that accuse him of lying. Other harassment included message boards ridiculing him and online posts revealing him to be a fraud, according to Salon.
Rosen, 69, discovered the children and the bus driver at the end of his driveway on the morning of the shooting. One child told Rosen: "We can't go back to school. Our teacher is dead." Rosen brought them into his home, offered juice and toys, and then alerted the childrens' parents.
"I wanted to speak about the bravery of the children, and it kind of helped me work through this," Rosen said in a Salon interview. "I guess I kind of opened myself up to this." Apparently Rosen has been a focus of a growing Sandy Hook truther movement that suspects that the school shooting in Newtown was a hoax, similar to that of people who doubt the 9/11 attacks.
As a result, Rosen has logged messages he's received and talked to a retired state police officer. He also plans to contact the FBI. He was at first concerned about speaking out on this but told Salon: "I talk to you about this because I feel that there has to be some moral push-back on this."
Rosen also added: "There must be some way to morally shame these people, because there were 20 dead children lying an eighth of a mile from my window all night long."