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James Tracy, a communications professor at Florida Atlantic University who believes the Sandy Hook massacre to be a hoax propagated by the federal government, was fired from his teaching position after he harassed parents of Sandy Hook victims and accused them of being government agents.
Tracy was served an official notice of termination Tuesday, according to a statement from university officials. His last day will be Friday.
The letter from Diane Alperin, vice provost for FAU, outlines why the headline-making professor was being fired and said Tracy was informed Dec. 16 that he would be fired.
“You were advised that you had 10 days in which to respond in writing,” Alperin wrote. “You have not responded.”
Tracy gained national attention when he claimed in a blog post that the federal government staged the December 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, as a way to pass gun control laws.
According to the letter, Tracy was reprimanded in November and told that he had not submitted reports of outside employment or professional activity forms for 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, per FAU policy.
“Dean (Heather) Coltman required you to submit these activity forms within 48 hours of receipt of her letter and indicated that failure to do so may result in further disciplinary action,” Alperin wrote.
Instead, Tracy sent Coltman a letter dated Nov. 22 explaining why he shouldn’t have to submit the forms, Alperin wrote.
“Rather than impose further discipline as warned, the dean gave you another opportunity to comply,” Alperin wrote.
Coltman set a new deadline of Dec. 14 for Tracy to submit the forms and warned him that he could be fired if he failed to meet the deadline, Alperin wrote.
“However, you again refused the dean’s clear directive and did not submit the forms by the new deadline,” Alperin wrote.
Tracy was reprimanded in 2013 for writing in his blog that the Sandy Hook killing was staged, and he has questioned accounts of other mass slayings.
The parents of one student killed at Sandy Hook recently claimed in a Florida newspaper opinion piece that Tracy was taunting them.
“You publicly engage in external personal activity that requires your time and effort,” Alperin wrote. “It is for the administration to decide, with your input, if a conflict exists, and how to manage a conflict where necessary. You have repeatedly and willfully failed to provide the administration the information it needs to discharge its responsibilities.”
According to the letter, Tracy’s last day of employment is Friday, but FAU appears to have already cut ties with the University of Iowa graduate.
Tracy’s biography was recently removed from FAU’s website, which listed his areas of expertise as media history and analysis and political economy of communication.
Agencies/Canadajournal
