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00:00They're nothing but a bunch of greedy fat cats who could care less about anything but making profit.
00:30As Peter Lanza told the New Yorker, quote, with hindsight, I know Adam would have killed me in a heartbeat if he'd had the chance.
00:45I don't question that for a minute. The reason he shot Nancy four times was one for each of us.
00:51One for Nancy, one for him, one for his brother Ryan, one for me.
00:55As much as Peter Lanza revealed, there is one matter he wants to keep private.
01:00What he did for Adam's funeral. No one knows that, he says, and no one ever will.
01:05Peter Lanza made one more startling admission. He recently started wishing that his son had never been born.
01:12I know there's not a parent in America who doesn't feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.
01:20The majority of those who died today were children.
01:25Beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old.
01:30They had their entire lives ahead of them.
01:44Birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own.
01:50Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
02:04So our hearts are broken today.
02:07For the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children,
02:13and for the families of the adults who were lost.
02:19Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well.
02:23For as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight,
02:26they know that their children's innocence has been torn away from them too early.
02:32And there are no words that will ease their pain.
02:33And whether it's King George or Barack Hussein Obama,
02:38oppression is oppression.
02:41Gun control isn't about guns, it's about control.
02:46I only have one comment.
02:48I will not comply.
02:50Please put down your weapon.
02:55You have 20 seconds to comply.
02:58I think you'd better do what he says, Mr. Kenny.
03:01You now have 15 seconds to comply.
03:04You are in direct violation of title code 113, section 9.
03:10You now have 5 seconds to comply.
03:12Do we want to call Gandhi a paramedic?
03:30I'm sure it's only a glitch.
03:32A temporary setback.
03:33You call this a glitch?
03:35One of the questions, I think, is do 20 dead first graders change that equation?
03:40So far it hasn't, and I think what makes this such an intractable issue
03:45is even after Sandy Hook, there are two camps.
03:50The two camps are what we need to make our community safer is fewer guns,
03:57and the other camp saying, no, what we need to make our community safer is more guns.
04:01I don't know where the common ground is on this when it starts that far apart.
04:06Adam Peter Lanza, born on April 22, 1992, lived with his mother, Nancy Lanza,
04:16in Newtown, five miles from the elementary school.
04:19He did not have a criminal record.
04:21He had access to guns through his mother.
04:23He was described as a gun enthusiast who owned at least a dozen firearms.
04:28She often took her two sons to a local shooting range where they learned to shoot.
04:33Lanza's father had said that he does not believe Nancy feared Lanza.
04:38She did not confide any fear of Lanza to her sister or to her best friend,
04:43slept with her bedroom door unlocked, and kept guns in the house.
04:48Lanza attended Sandy Hook Elementary School for four and a half years.
04:52He began at Newtown Middle School in 2004,
04:56but according to his mother, was wracked by anxiety.
04:59She told friends that her son started getting upset in middle school
05:03because of frequent classroom changes during the day.
05:07The movement and noise were too stimulating and made him anxious.
05:11At one point, his anxiety was so intense
05:13that she took him to the emergency room at Danbury Hospital.
05:18Because of the smaller class sizes,
05:20his mother moved him to a parochial school, St. Rose of Lima.
05:24According to a classmate at St. Rose of Lima,
05:27he entered late in the school year, and he left in June 2005.
05:33At age 14, he went to Newtown High School,
05:36where he was named to the honor roll in 2007.
05:39Students and teachers who knew him in high school
05:42described Lanza as intelligent but nervous and fidgety.
05:46He avoided attracting attention and was uncomfortable socializing.
05:51He is not known to have any close friends in school.
05:55School work often triggered his underlying sense of hopelessness.
05:59And by 2008, when he was 16,
06:02he was only going to school occasionally.
06:05The intense anxiety Lanza experienced at the time
06:09suggests his autism might have been exacerbated
06:13by the hormonal shifts of adolescence.
06:16Yep, it'll do that.
06:17He was taken out of high school and homeschooled
06:20by his mother and father.
06:22In 2009, he also attended some classes
06:25at Western Connecticut State University.
06:28Lanza was born and partially raised in Kingston, New Hampshire,
06:32about seven miles southwest of Exeter,
06:35east of Manchester, and 50 miles north of Boston.
06:39While living in New Hampshire at the time,
06:41Lanza exhibited developmental challenges before the age of three.
06:45These included communication and sensory difficulties,
06:49socialization delays, and repetitive behaviors.
06:53He was seen by the New Hampshire birth to three intervention program
06:57and referred to special education preschool services.
07:02Once at elementary school,
07:03he was diagnosed with a sensory integration disorder.
07:06The sensory processing disorder does not have official status
07:10by the medical community as a formal diagnosis,
07:13but it is a common characteristic of autism.
07:17His anxiety affected his ability to attend school,
07:20and in eighth grade, he was placed on homebound status,
07:24which is reserved for children who are too disabled,
07:27even with supports and accommodations, to attend school.
07:31When he was 13, Lanza was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome
07:36by a psychiatrist, Paul Fox.
07:39When he was 14, his parents took him
07:41to Yale University's Child Study Center,
07:44where he was also diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD.
07:49He frequently washed his hands
07:51and changed his socks 20 times a day
07:54to the point where his mother did three loads of laundry a day.
07:57He also sometimes went through a box of tissues in a day
08:01because he could not touch a doorknob with his bare hands.
08:05Lanza was treated by Robert King,
08:07who recommended extensive support to be put in place,
08:11and King's colleague, Kathleen Koenig,
08:14at the Yale Child Study Center,
08:17prescribed the antidepressant Celexa.
08:20Lanza took the medication for three days.
08:23His mother, Nancy, reported,
08:24on the third morning, he complained of dizziness.
08:27By that afternoon, he was disoriented.
08:30His speech was disjointed.
08:32He couldn't even figure out how to open his cereal box.
08:35He was sweating profusely.
08:37It was actually dripping off his hands.
08:39He said he couldn't think.
08:41He was practically vegetative.
08:43He never took the medication again.
08:45A report from the Office of the Child Advocate
08:47found that Yale's recommendations
08:49for extensive special education supports,
08:52ongoing expert consultation,
08:54and rigorous therapeutic supports
08:57embedded in Lanza's daily life
09:00went largely unheeded.
09:02In a 2013 interview,
09:04Peter Lanza said he suspected his son
09:07might have also had undiagnosed schizophrenia
09:10in addition to his other conditions.
09:13Lanza said that family members
09:15might have missed the signs of the onset of schizophrenia
09:18and psychotic behavior during his son's adolescence
09:22because they mistakenly attributed his odd behavior
09:26and increasing isolation to Asperger's syndrome.
09:30Because of concerns that published accounts of Lanza's autism
09:34could result in a backlash against others with the condition,
09:39autism advocates campaigned to clarify
09:42that autism is a brain-related developmental disorder
09:45rather than a mental illness.
09:48The violence Lanza demonstrated in the shooting
09:51is generally not seen in the autistic population
09:54and none of the psychiatrists he saw
09:57detected troubling signs of violence in his disposition.
10:01Lanza appears to have had no contact
10:03with mental health providers after 2006.
10:07Jesus Christ.
10:08The report from the Office of the Child Advocates stated
10:12in the course of Lanza's entire life,
10:15minimal mental health evaluation and treatment
10:17in relation to his apparent need was obtained.
10:21Of the couple of providers that saw him,
10:24only one, the Yale Child Study Center,
10:27seemed to appreciate the gravity of his presentation,
10:31his need for extensive mental health
10:33and special education supports,
10:35and the critical need for medication
10:37to ease his obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
10:42Investigators found Lanza was fascinated with mass shootings,
10:46such as the Columbine High School Massacre.
10:48Among the clippings found in his room,
10:51there was a story from the New York Times
10:53about a man who shot at school children in 1891.
10:57His computer contained two videos of gunshot suicides,
11:03movies that showed school shootings,
11:05and two pictures of Lanza pointing guns at his own head.
11:09This only came to light after Lanza died,
11:13because he never permitted others to access his bedroom,
11:16including his mother.
11:18Lanza had also taped black garbage bags
11:21over the windows in his bedroom to block out sunlight.
11:24He had cut off contact with both his father and brother
11:28in the two years before the shooting,
11:31and at one point communicated with his mother,
11:34who lived in the same house, only by email.
11:38A document titled,
11:39Selfish, describing Lanza's belief
11:42in the inherent selfishness of women,
11:45was found on his computer after his death.
11:48According to a report by the Office of the Child Advocate
11:53in Connecticut in November 2014,
11:56Lanza may have had anorexia nervosa.
12:00The authors wrote that anorexia
12:01can produce cognitive impairment,
12:04and it is likely that anorexia
12:06combined with an autism spectrum disorder
12:09and OCD compounded Lanza's risk for suicide.
12:13They also noted that at the time of his death,
12:16Lanza was anorexic.
12:18He was six feet tall
12:19and weighed 112 pounds
12:21to the point of malnutrition
12:23and resultant brain damage.
12:26He was also living in almost total isolation in his room,
12:30spending most of his time on the internet
12:32playing World of Warcraft
12:33and other video games.
12:35The report stated that he descended into a world
12:39where his only communication with the outside world
12:42was with members of a cyber community,
12:45a small community of individuals
12:47that shared his dark and obsessive interest
12:50in mass murder.
12:52In the weeks before the killings,
12:54Lanza's mother was considered moving him
12:56to another town.
12:58She planned to purchase a recreational vehicle
13:00for him to stay in
13:02so that potential purchasers
13:04could see the house without disturbing him.
13:07The report of the child advocate stated that
13:10in the wake of Mrs. Lanza's stated plan
13:13to move out of Newtown in 2012
13:16and perhaps stimulated by fears
13:18of leaving the comfort zone of his home,
13:21Adam planned and executed the massacre
13:23at Sandy Hook Elementary School
13:25on December 14th, 2012.
13:28His severe and deteriorating
13:30internalized mental health problems
13:32were combined with an atypical preoccupation
13:35with violence.
13:37Combined with access to deadly weapons,
13:40this proved a recipe for mass murder.
13:42James Knoll, a forensic psychiatrist
13:44at SUNY Upstate Medical University,
13:48was consulted about what motivated Lanza to kill.
13:52Knoll states that Lanza's final act
13:54conveyed a distinct message.
13:57I carry profound hurt.
13:59I'll go ballistic and transfer it onto you.
14:05A umbrellas about to try to justify things.
14:10A
14:35In January 2015, the families of two of the first graders who died in the
15:05shooting filed a lawsuit against the City of Newtown and the Newtown Board of Education
15:12alleging inadequate security at the school.
15:15In March, it was announced that parents of children and teachers killed in the shooting
15:20had filed lawsuits against the estate of Nancy Lanza.
15:25The suits are based on a claim that she did not properly secure her firearms, which allowed
15:30her son, a person with mental health issues, to gain access to them.
15:36Fucking valid point.
15:37The attorneys representing the families said Lanza was believed to have had homeowner's
15:41insurance on her home worth more than a million dollars, and they were seeking compensation
15:47based on that.
15:49On October 16th, 2019, a jury awarded Leonard Posner $450,000 for defamation by James Fetzer, who'd
15:59co-written the book, Nobody Died at Sandy Hook.
16:03The book claimed that Posner had fabricated the death certificate of his son Noah, a six-year-old
16:10victim of the shooting.
16:11Fetzer said he would appeal the decision.
16:14On December 15th, 2014, nine families of the 26 victims of the shooting filed a class action
16:21lawsuit in Connecticut against Bushmaster, Remington Arms, Camp 4, a distributor of firearms, and
16:28the now closed East Windsor store, Riverview Sales, where the gunman's rifle was purchased,
16:36seeking unspecified damages, claiming an exemption from the 2005 Federal Protection of Lawful Commerce
16:43and Arms Act that would normally disallow such a suit as lacking standing.
16:49The plaintiffs allege that the XM15 E2S is suitable only for military and policing applications,
16:58and that Bushmaster inappropriately marketed it to civilians.
17:03In January 2015, Bushmaster's attorneys petitioned to have the suit moved to federal court because,
17:10although the shooting took place in Connecticut, it is located in North Carolina.
17:15In February 2015, the victim's family's attorneys made a motion to move the suit back to state
17:22court.
17:23On April 14th, 2016, a Connecticut court denied the defendant's motion to dismiss the case.
17:30Lawyers for the defense filed a second motion for dismissal a month later.
17:35On October 14th, 2016, the defendant's motion to dismiss the lawsuit was granted.
17:41The judge ruled the complaint was not valid per federal and Connecticut laws.
17:46The families appealed in the Connecticut Supreme Court.
17:50In March 2019, the court decided, in a 4-3 vote, to reverse parts of the trial court's rulings
17:57and remand the case back to Bridgeport Superior Court for additional hearings.
18:02It ruled that the families appealed to the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act,
18:07demonstrating that the gun manufacturers had used advertising that presented the weapons in an unfair,
18:14unethical or dangerous manner, with Remington seeking to expand the market for its assault weapons,
18:21through advertising campaigns that encouraged consumers to launch offensive assaults against
18:28their perceived enemies, was not prohibited by PLCAA, and thus that the plaintiffs had sufficient
18:35standing to argue their case at trial court.
18:38It also ruled that the plaintiffs can subpoena internal documents on how gun companies have
18:44marketed the AR-15. Remington asked the Supreme Court of the United States to review the state
18:51court ruling, but in November 2019, the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, allowing the
18:57family suit to proceed. On July 26th, 2021, the judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit. In court documents the
19:05next day, Remington offered $33 million to be shared by the nine families. On February 15th, 2022,
19:14Remington agreed to settle for $73 million, according to the family's attorney, Josh Koskopf.
19:21Francine Wheeler's son, Benjamin, was one of 26 students and educators murdered in 2012 at Sandy Hook
19:28Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. She said today's settlement is the first piece of
19:34accountability in nearly 10 agonizing years. Our legal system has given us some justice today,
19:42but David and I will never have true justice.
19:47True justice would be our 15-year-old, healthy and standing next to us right now.
19:56The agreement ends litigation from families of nine victims alleging that gun maker Remington,
20:01whose Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle was used in the massacre, knowingly and negligently marketed
20:08military-grade weapons to unstable people. In 2020, Remington filed for bankruptcy a second time.
20:16Oh, you know we're gonna have to talk about this. On April 17th, 2018, radio host and conspiracy
20:24theorist Alex Jones was sued for defamation by three parents whose children were killed in the shooting.
20:31Prior to this, Jones said that the Sandy Hook shooting was completely fake and a giant hoax
20:38perpetrated by opponents of the Second Amendment. Jones claimed he later believed the shooting was real.
20:45On May 23rd, 2018, six more families sued Jones for his claims. Jones was found to be in contempt of court
20:53by a Texas judge even before the trial started, failing to produce witnesses and materials relevant
21:01to the procedures. Consequently, Jones and Infowars were fined a total of $126,000 in October and December 2019.
21:11In October 2021, Jones was ordered to pay damages and was criticized by a judge for failing to hand
21:18over documents requested by the courts. Jones declared bankruptcy in April 2022 as a result of the
21:26defamation lawsuits caused by his claims that the shooting was a hoax.
21:30On August 4th, 2022, Jones was ordered to pay $4.1 million compensatory damages to Sandy Hook parents.
21:43And on August 5th, 2022, he was ordered to pay a further $45.2 million in punitive damages.
21:53Fuck yeah, I love that. On October 12th, 2022, Jones was ordered to pay $965 million in damages to the
22:04families of Sandy Hook victims.
22:06My son existed.
22:08My son existed, says Scarlett Lewis, the mother of six-year-old Jesse Lewis, speaking directly to
22:15conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in an Austin, Texas courtroom.
22:20In an utterly unthinkable sign of our times, Scarlett Lewis makes the case that
22:28she and her dead child are real, directly to Jones.
22:34It doesn't exist that I'm deep state. It's just not true. I know you know that. That's the problem.
22:43I know you know that. And you keep saying it. You keep saying it. Why? Why? For money?
22:54Because you made a lot of money while you said it. I know you're... I mean...
22:59I know you believe me. And yet you're gonna get, you're gonna leave this courthouse and you're
23:11gonna say it again on your show. You're saying no. You just did it.
23:17On his show today. Today, he raised questions about both Scarlett Lewis and the boy's father,
23:24who are seeking up to 150 million dollars in damages. He is, um, being manipulated by some
23:31very bad people. But I'll just say, I gotta be honest, he's slow, okay? And his ex-wife is not.
23:40The man Jones is calling slow and manipulated? Jesse Lewis's father, Neal Heslin.
23:46I was blessed with six and a half years.
23:53He spent more than one and a half times.
24:00And, uh...
24:06But I cherish those days.
24:11Those years.
24:16Witches.
24:17We're going to January. Now it's clear. They're crisis actors.
24:21They're actors. It's all hoax.
24:23January 10th, another one.
24:26January 10th, Sandy Hook AR-15 hoax. Still no school surveillance footage.
24:31Wow.
24:33And then on January 27th, we're about six weeks out from the shooting.
24:36Why people think Sandy Hook is a hoaxing.
24:40He puts Robbie out there.
24:41He slows down the video.
24:45Calls it method acting.
24:46And I want you to think about what it means to have millions and millions and millions of
24:54fear-stricken people who believe that you are part of a plot to take away their rights.
25:02What it means to have that many people thinking that about you.
25:08On September 24th, the day he publishes it, he brings in $48,000 on that day.
25:12Look at the next day.
25:13$232,000 in a day, just on that one platform.
25:21Then it drops off a little the next day, September 26th, $128,000.
25:25Then it drops off again.
25:27What you're seeing there is the relationship between the lie,
25:30the audience, and the money he's rated.
25:33Now, $230,000 a day sounds pretty good.
25:37Wait until the year where he was making just recently.
25:42So where was all this coming from?
25:45He talks about the audience that was growing.
25:47In 2014, the year that article went viral, this was his social media audience.
25:522.2 billion impressions on social media.
26:00This is in 2015.
26:042.9 billion.
26:06Facebook alone in 2016, 4.1 billion.
26:12And look at what happens.
26:14You're going to see this text message.
26:15This is what I was telling you about.
26:18Jones wakes up, just wondering how dollar sign we are.
26:22We ended up about 810,000 yesterday.
26:30One day.
26:31And do you remember what they were?
26:34Yes.
26:35And what were they?
26:38Just a top look.
26:39I'm trying to remember that first there was a document you put out saying,
26:44don't talk about free speech, don't say I'm innocent, and a bunch of other stuff.
26:51And then, and then that guy was drawn, I think he was good.
26:54It's called Monks and Lenny.
26:56Okay.
26:57So you don't remember?
26:58No, no, no.
26:58I'm not.
26:59No.
26:59Answer the question, motherfucker.
27:01You believe everything you say is true, but it isn't.
27:04Your beliefs do not make something true.
27:07That is, that is what we're doing here.
27:11Just because you claim to think something is true does not make it true.
27:15It does not protect you.
27:16It is not allowed.
27:18You are under oath.
27:19That means things must actually be true when you say them.
27:24Don't talk about it.
27:24I had my tooth pulled a week and a half ago, and it's, I had some gauze earlier,
27:29and it's, it's because you have some pain.
27:32So you're chewing on your gauze?
27:34Would you like me to show you?
27:35No, I just want you to answer my question.
27:37No, I was massaging the hole in my mouth with my tongue.
27:41Back there, right here.
27:42I don't want to see the inside of your mouth.
27:44Hold on.
27:45There's no gum.
27:47Hold.
27:48Sit down.
27:49And then slow.
27:51No, I'm slow.
27:51Yeah, sure.
27:52That's it.
27:54I'll be lost on here.
28:00That's it.
28:01You're not talking to me anymore.
28:02You're not doing this.
28:03That's not even a thought.
28:04That's not the way this goes.
28:07Why?
28:10Because you can't feel them fake videos anymore?
28:11No, shut them down.
28:14That's what you're trying to just shut my mouth.
28:15You won't ever succeed, buddy.
28:16It's okay.
28:17I'm not saying it myself.
28:18I'm not saying it myself.
28:20I think I'm autistic, okay, buddy.
28:23This year, my mom got me the perfect bag for back to school.
28:29These colorful binders help me stay organized.
28:32These headphones are just what I need for studying.
28:38These new sneakers are just what I need for the new year.
28:43This jacket is a real must-have.
28:45My parents got me the skateboard I wanted.
28:46It's pretty cool.
28:51These scissors really come in handy in our class.
28:55These colored pencils, too.
28:57These new socks, they can be a real lifesaver.
29:00And I finally got my own phone and stay in touch with my mom.
29:10Hey, can you help me?
29:27Since the slaying, multiple clips have emerged of Lanza, most notably playing DDR at his local arcade,
29:33a game that he was said to be obsessed with playing for hours and hours on end each day,
29:37though he also had a YouTube channel that went by the name of Cultural Philenstein.
29:41The reason behind this name itself is still unconfirmed, but one chilling theory has emerged
29:46as users on Reddit would discover an old book from 1988 that too was titled Cultural Philenstein,
29:53and in a haunting coincidence, the author's name was Cindy Hook, insinuating that Lanza
29:58had always planned on making Sandy Hook his target, and the crews were there all along.
30:04The videos themselves are quite disturbing, featuring a black screen and just the sound of Lanza's voice.
30:11School is such a great place, we get to learn stuff, become a better person to make a better
30:15tomorrow. I think, well what is school? School is culture, basically it's cultural indoctrination.
30:29I don't know why I don't just do it.
30:35Why am I expecting to accomplish anything before I do it?
30:41The Sandy Hook massacre happened all the way back in 2012, and since then, people have poured an
30:46obscene amount of time into documenting Lanza's life, pouring over every single online posting,
30:51every writing, and any trail he may have left behind. He's by far one of the most well-studied
30:56killers in the internet age. But despite all this, Cultural Philenstein, his own personal
31:02YouTube channel, was only discovered just last year. Despite being live for over a decade,
31:09it wouldn't be until 2021 that this channel belonging to Lanza would be found. With the
31:14millions and millions of people who have studied Adam Lanza, one of the most evil people to ever
31:19exist on this earth, no one ever found his YouTube channel. It just sat there for years and years and
31:25years, dormant in the shadows.
31:36They don't. Just touch this in theado рядом.
31:49They turned out It was on its way to marginalize us.
31:53You can shake this room a little bit. To an end it was lost.
31:54The school was closed indefinitely
32:24following the shooting, partially because it remained a crime scene.
32:29On May 10th, a task force of 28 appointed members voted to demolish the existing Sandy
32:36Hook Elementary School and have a new school built in its place.
32:40After the town clerk's office was inundated with requests from the media, Connecticut
32:45House of Representatives Republican Dan Carter introduced legislation that would restrict
32:51access to public information available under the Freedom of Information Act.
32:57The Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, a non-profit, was formed to help survivors and families
33:03of the victims while also continuing the service of assisting others impacted by other shootings
33:09across the United States.
33:11A renewed debate about the effects of violent video games on young people began soon after
33:21the shooting due to news reports suggesting Lanza frequently played violent video games.
33:26Wayne LaPierre publicly blamed video games.
33:30Ooh, isn't that a big goddamn motherfucking surprise for the shooting, specifically targeting
33:38the free online game Kindergarten Killers created by Gary Short?
33:43The fuck is that?
33:45Police found numerous video games in the basement of Adam Lanza's home, which was used as a gaming
33:51area.
33:51The final report into the shooting by the state attorney published in November 2013 noted
33:57that Lanza played video games often, both solo at home and online.
34:02They could be described as both violent and non-violent.
34:06One person described the shooter as spending the majority of his time playing non-violent
34:10video games all day, with his favorite at one point being Super Mario Bros.
34:15The report described his liking for Dance Dance Revolution, which he played frequently for hours,
34:21with an acquaintance at a movie theater in Danbury, which had a commercial version of the game,
34:26and also played the game at home.
34:28According to the report by the Office of the Child Advocate, Lanza would play the game for
34:33hours on end, using it as a distraction from his inner turmoil.
34:38The report said that he would whip himself into a frenzy, a behavior consistent, possibly
34:43with a need to contain anxiety-producing impulses and thoughts.
34:47There were days when he would not do anything else but Dance Dance Revolution.
34:52The final report by the state attorney did not make a link between video games and the
34:57motive for the shooting.
34:58However, the report of the Child Advocate said video games and internet addiction appear
35:03to be highly comorbid with several other psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression,
35:10and obsessive-compulsive challenges.
35:12In 2013, a Newtown Board of Selectmen appointed the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission.
35:20Out of 189 design submissions, the commission chose a design created by Dan Affleck and Ben
35:27Waldo of SWA Group.
35:30$3.7 million to construct the memorial was narrowly approved by Newtown voters on April 2021.
35:38The site work began in August 2021.
35:41Construction was completed in August 2022.
35:44The memorial opened to the public on November 13, 2022, after a private ceremony with the
35:51victims' families.
35:52It features a stone basin engraved with the names of the victims with a young sycamore tree
35:59at its center.
36:00The weeks after the tragedy, we had teddy bears, and we had flowers, we had plaques, inundating
36:08all the streets of Sandy Hook.
36:10Afterwards, we took everything, aggregated everything, incinerated it, and made it into sacred soil.
36:18The sacred soil sits within the granite stone.
36:22The sacred sycamore tree in the middle, which is hardy, and it sustains under old
36:52sorts of diversity.
37:07We visited 17 sites throughout town.
37:10This is the very first site we visited, and we rejected it.
37:14We felt it was too close to the school, it was too soon to the horrible event.
37:18We said, we don't think this would be the right site.
37:21We came full circle, back to three or four sites.
37:25The day we visited the site, we heard the children through the woods, through these very woods,
37:30in the Sandy School playground, laughing and running and playing.
37:35We felt, this is the site.
37:36It's a relatively small New England town.
37:41The community came together.
37:43But there was an outpouring, an outpouring of love from the state, from the country, from the world.
37:48.
37:50.
38:05.
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