RantCrush Top 5: June 9, 2017

The woman who made threatening phone calls to the father of a six-year-old boy who was murdered in the Sandy Hook shooting has been sentenced. Lucy Richards, 57, will spend five months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She was inspired by fake articles from websites like Infowars, which claimed that the shooting never took place. Conspiracy theories online have claimed that President Barack Obama and anti-gun lobbyists staged the attack with actors. Richards made phone calls and sent email messages to the father, Leonard Pozner, saying things like, “You gonna die, death is coming to you real soon.”

Richards has been suffering from mental health issues and did apologize to Pozner in court. “It was the worst mistake of my life and I am truly sorry,” she said. Pozner said he still receives constant online threats. But he was happy about the sentencing, as he wants to raise awareness of the “growing problem of alternative facts and people who are easily influenced by those facts.”

“Your words were cruel and insensitive. This is reality and there is no fiction. There are no alternative facts.” -Judge James Cohn https://t.co/OSRSLbpnRR

— Bob (@DoHoBOB) June 8, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.