Alleged Sandy Hook Truther Skips Court Appearance: Reports

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — A 57-year-old Brandon woman accused of threatening the parent of a boy who died during the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre failed to make a court appearance in Fort Lauderdale Wednesday, several media outlets are reporting. A warrant has now reportedly been issued for her arrest.

Lucy Richards was scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday morning. She was expected to enter a guilty plea in the case and be sentenced. Richards, however, was a no-show to her own change-of-plea hearing.

“Miss Richards called my investigator and said she’s not coming,” Assistant Federal Public Defender Robert Berube was quoted by the Sun-Sentinel as saying following Wednesday’s court hearing. Berube had no further explanation for her absence.

Richards is accused of sending death threats to Lenny Pozner, the father of 6-year-old Noah Pozner. Noah was one of the 20 children killed by Adam Lanza, 20, during the Dec. 14, 2012, massacre that also left six educators dead. The shooting at the Newtown, Connecticut, school rocked the nation, prompting many to call for stricter gun laws.

Others, however, have declared the shooting a hoax.

Richards allegedly sent the threats to Lenny, who now lives in Florida, because she thought the shooting was a hoax.

Richards initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but was expected to change that plea during Wednesday’s hearing.

Richards is a former waitress currently receiving Social Security disability payments, and told investigators she was motivated by anger after browsing websites that promote the conspiracy theories, according to the Florida publication.

Lenny Pozner's case is one of the latest involving those, referred to by many as "Sandy Hook Truthers," who believe the tragedy did not happen. A New York man, for example, was arrested in November 2015 after he allegedly harassed the sister of victim Vicki Soto at a benefit race held in her honor. The man, Matthew Mills, was accused of shoving a picture of Soto in her sister’s face and claiming she never existed.

Richards' arrest came just days after a Florida Atlantic University professor was terminated by the school because of his alleged conspiracy theories about the events at Sandy Hook.

Lenny and Veronique Pozner, Noah's mother, wrote an open letter urging the school to part ways with James Tracy.

They wrote:

"Tracy even sent us a certified letter demanding proof that Noah once lived, that we were his parents, and that we were the rightful owner of his photographic image. We found this so outrageous and unsettling that we filed a police report for harassment. Once Tracy realized we would not respond, he subjected us to ridicule and contempt on his blog, boasting to his readers that the “unfulfilled request” was “noteworthy” because we had used copyright claims to “thwart continued research of the Sandy Hook massacre event.”

When captured, Richards will be held without bond, CBS reported. Prosecutors had been recommending house arrest as part of her deal to enter a guilty plea, but that option is likely off the table courtesy of the no-show, the network reported.

Patch’s Rich Scinto and Joe Lipovich contributed to this story.

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