Fact Checking “Nobody Died At Sandy Hook”, Chapter Four

“Nobody Died At Sandy Hook”
Chapter Four
By: James Fetzer

James Fetzer, stretching the limits of hyperbole as only he can, once referred to his twisted take on Shannon Hicks’s now-iconic evacuation photos as his “smoking gun.” Apparently, he’s still clinging to that notion, as he took his previous blog post on the subject, sprinkled in some appropriated images, and somehow stretched it thin enough to fill an entire chapter of his book. So, what exactly makes this photograph so “damning” in Fetzer’s mind?

“A little girl is at the front of the conga line of students led by a police woman in uniform. But she is missing in Shannon’s ‘iconic’ photograph.” pg. 47

That’s because they are, in fact, two different photos showing two separate groups of students being evacuated from the school. None of these children appear in Shannon’s other photograph—because they’re different kids.

So it seems like Fetzer’s “smoking gun” just fired a blank.

“If this was taken in real time under emergency conditions, how could she have taken more than one?” pg. 47

Fetzer’s implication here is ridiculous. Taking multiple photos under emergency conditions is, in fact, completely routine and instantaneous—whether in war zones, natural disasters, or any crisis situation. Photographers capture multiple shots in rapid succession precisely because situations are unpredictable and constantly changing.

If Fetzer’s argument held any water, then war photography—and indeed, nearly all crisis photojournalism—wouldn’t exist.

“There should have been around 469 students and 83 faculty and staff to evacuate: Where are they?” pg. 47

So now it’s 469? Back on page twenty-five, James Tracy claimed it was 600:

Fetzer’s getting closer, but he’s still wrong. Sandy Hook’s enrollment as of November 30, 2012, was actually 456.

But where are all those kids in this one photo? Well, either they’ve already been evacuated, or they’re about to be. Does Fetzer really think that all students (especially young children) are evacuated at once in emergencies? Another absurd claim, backed by absolutely nothing.

“The ‘iconic’ photograph that was taken by Shannon Hicks, Associate Editor of The Newtown Bee, which Dennis Cimino and I have subjected to an extensive and detailed analysis. It is the only photo we have of any children being evacuated from the school” pg. 48

An “extensive and detailed analysis”? Sure, if that’s what we’re calling Fetzer’s cherry-picked commentary. And naturally, you won’t find any of this so-called “analysis” detailed anywhere in the book.

In reality, Fetzer and his crew have definitely seen the other evacuation photos. (He even references one of them later, on page fifty-one.) They just refuse to accept that they’re real. Sandy Hook Facts has already done the heavy lifting, publishing numerous evacuation photos on their site, which I’ll link here instead of rehashing their work.

“On the basis of a shadow analysis, Dan concluded that the Shannon Hicks’ photograph was taken at 9:45 AM on 12 November 2012, over a month before Sandy Hook.” pg. 48

In the previous chapter, a mere five pages back, Halbig claims that Governor Dan Malloy was first informed on November 27, 2012, by Attorney General Eric Holder of a plan to stage a school shooting in Connecticut. Yet, according to Halbig, these supposedly “staged” evacuation photos were taken 15 days earlier? For a “drill” no one knew was happening?

And as for the weather: on November 12, 2012, at 9:45 AM, it was around 52°F according to Weather Underground. So why is that little boy in the middle bundled up in a huge scarf? Maybe because it was actually colder—because it was actually December 14, 2012?

Anyway, credit goes to Mick West, administrator of Metabunk and author of Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect, who’s already done the heavy lifting here.

“The cars there on 14 December 2012 don’t look the same as in Hicks’ photograph.” pg. 49

When Fetzer says the cars “don’t look the same,” I can only assume he’s implying they’re somehow not the same cars—though he doesn’t actually elaborate or provide any evidence. Regardless, this is a strange route for him to take, considering he also claims back on page twelve that the parking lot was filled with “used or abandoned cars.” So if this photo was actually taken in October or November 2012, as he alleges, then why not just leave the cars in the same spots for a month or two?

Setting aside the obvious issues with logic, this claim is especially foolish because we can easily compare the cars in the evacuation photos to those in the helicopter footage taken shortly after the evacuations. While the helicopter feed mostly shows the tops and occasionally the sides of these cars from a considerable distance, the evacuation photos, taken on the ground and close up, show more of the sides and rears. Still, even with these slight differences in perspective, it’s clear that the cars seen in the evacuation photos, helicopter footage, and even in crime scene photos are indeed the same.

To demonstrate, here’s what I’ll refer to as “evacuation photo #1” taken by Shannon Hicks:

The vehicles seen in the above photo are:

#1: Green Saturn Vue
#2: Silver Mazda 3
#3: Maroon Honda Pilot
#4: Blue Ford Edge
#5: Red Subaru Impreza
#6: Grey BMW X5
#7: Green Volvo S60 (?)
#8: White Chevy Traverse
#9: Maroon Honda Pilot

In the still from the helicopter footage below, the yellow star indicates the approximate location from which Shannon Hicks took “evacuation photo #1” earlier that morning:

Now compare both to this photo from page eight of Meehan’s parking lot photos:

#1: Green Saturn Vue
#2: Silver Mazda 3
#3: Maroon Honda Pilot
#4: Blue Ford Edge
#5: Red Subaru Impreza
#6: Grey BMW X5
#7: Green Volvo S60 (?)
#8: White Chevy Traverse

Here’s another evacuation photo, which I’ll refer to as “evacuation photo #2”, also taken by Shannon Hicks:

The four most visible vehicles in the above photo are:

#1: Green Ford Expedition
#2: Silver Lexus GX470
#3: Green/blue Chevy Malibu
#4: Black Subaru Impreza

Here’s a still from the helicopter footage, showing those same cars:

While I didn’t mark it in either photo, you can make out the black Nissan Rogue parked just to the right of the black Subaru Impreza (#4).

And here’s page 160 from Farr’s nighttime exterior photos:

#1: Green Ford Expedition
#2: Silver Lexus GX470
#3: Green/blue Chevy Malibu
#4: Black Subaru Impreza

Here’s one last crime scene and helicopter footage comparison, first starting with page 137 of Farr’s nighttime exterior photos:

#1 Silver Toyota Minivan
#2 Beige Toyota SUV
#3 Blue Honda CRV
#4 Silver Nissan Maxima
#5 White Subaru Outback (?)

Compare that to this still from the helicopter footage:

Here’s a closer look:

While the Toyota minivan is cut out of the shot, the rest of the cars are the same:

#2 Beige Toyota SUV
#3 Blue Honda CRV
#4 Silver Nissan Maxima
#5 White Subaru Outback (?)

These are undeniably the same exact cars. Once again, Fetzer is either guilty of abysmal (or non-existent) research—or he’s lying to his readers. There’s no other explanation.

“I was taken to a web page with the following (now familiar) photograph, accompanied by a caption stating, ‘Picture at Sandy Hook taken on October 17, 2012, during emergency drill at the school’, which reinforces the question it raises” pg. 50

It’s almost unbelievable this made it into a book. Fetzer is pointing to nothing more than a caption added by conspiracy theorist Dan Hennen on a photo he admits he didn’t even take, posted on his personal Flickr account. Hennen credits Shannon Hicks as the photographer but refuses to accept the date she provides, with zero evidence to back up his claim. None.

When I checked Hennen’s Flickr photostream (where this low-resolution image was uploaded), his caption claims it was taken on October 17, 2012, but Flickr’s data shows it was uploaded on December 14, 2013—a full year after the shooting and exactly when Hicks says she took it.

What we’re actually looking at is a conspiracy theorist taking someone else’s work, hosting it elsewhere—Flickr instead of the Newtown Bee, where it originally appeared—and attaching their own baseless caption that says, “Nope, this is when it really happened.” That’s it. This is the so-called “smoking gun” that Fetzer is pushing.

“There are some photos of kids walking along Dickinston Drive (who are not K-4th graders) and others beside a car, but those are not ‘evacuation photos’.” pg 51

Since Fetzer doesn’t bother to publish or even provide a source for the photo he’s speaking of, I can only assume that it’s this one:

If this is the photo Fetzer’s referencing, how exactly did he determine it’s not an evacuation? It sure looks like one—why else would a group of kids be walking down Dickinson Drive, away from the school? But Fetzer, unsurprisingly, provides zero explanation.

And on what basis does he conclude these aren’t “K-4th graders”? Again, no reasoning, no evidence. Maybe he thinks they’re too tall to be elementary students, though he leaves us to guess. If that’s his angle, let’s see if height holds up here. These children are walking past what looks like a Ford cargo van (likely an E-150, E-250, or E-350). Ford specs show the height for these models is 82-85 inches, so if we take the average of 83.5 inches, then each half would be about 41.75 inches high—around where the door handles would be.

Fourth graders are typically nine or ten years old. According to both the CDC and the WHO, the average height for this age group is 52.5-54.5 inches. That’s about a foot taller than the van’s handles. Even though these kids vary in height (like, well, real kids do), most line up well with the handle height. So, using height as a measure, it’s entirely plausible they’re fourth—or even third—graders. No matter how you slice it, Fetzer’s claim just doesn’t hold water.

“It’s obvious that this photograph was staged, as can also be seen from this photo on that day with frost on the ground and exhaust from the cold:We have no frost on the ground or visible exhalation from the cold in the Shannon Hicks’ photograph, which makes the date of 14 December 2012 no longer even remotely plausible.” pg. 52

The “frost and exhaust” photo Fetzer is referring to, and includes in his book, is this one:

That’s exactly how it’s presented on page fifty-two, with no source or identifying information. However, it’s easy to track down the original, which was taken by Spencer Platt for Getty Images.

Here’s how the photo appears on their site:

This photo was taken on December 15th, 2012, a fact mentioned twice in the original caption. The white balloons tied to the school’s sign and the cars leaving Dickinson Drive—completely closed off on the 14th—should make that clear. Ironically, four chapters into his book, Fetzer finally shares a photograph he believes was taken on the 14th, and it’s completely incorrect.

As for the frost Fetzer expects to see in Hicks’ evacuation photo, where exactly does he think it should appear? On the asphalt? The fallen leaves in the distance? Given that the evacuation photo was likely taken around 10 AM, Weather Underground’s data shows that Newtown was at 37.9°F. Since frost forms at 32°F and Newtown rose above that temperature around 9:30 AM, it’s clear there would be no frost at the time of the evacuation.

While we have no way of telling what time it was when Platt took the above photo, it was nearly four degrees colder at the same time on the 15th. My guess would be that this photo was taken well before 10AM.

“What is this officer doing running away from the scene of the crime, for example?” pg. 52

Evacuating children and staff.

“Notice the officer whose silhouette can be seen in the background in front of the school. He appears more concerned with what’s going on in the parking lot than with what’s going on inside the school.” pg. 52

This photo captures a single moment in time. It’s entirely possible (even likely) that the officer is focused on both the evacuations and what’s happening inside the school. However, this particular photo simply shows him at a moment when he’s paying attention to the evacuations in the parking lot, which is a perfectly reasonable area for him to focus on during such an event.

Next: Chapter Five: “Top Ten Reasons: Sandy Hook Was An Elaborate Hoax” by Vivian Lee