A petition by Nicole and Ian Hockley (parents of Dylan Hockley), Mark and Jackie Barden (parents of Daniel Barden), and Jimmy Greene & Nelba Marquez-Green (parents of Ana Marquez-Greene) urges the CT legislature to pass HB 6424 which will keep the Sandy Hook crime scene information private.

The following is a statement made by the supporters of this petition: 

We are parents and family members who lost child in the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. We’re coming together to urge the Connecticut legislature to pass a law that would keep sensitive information, including photos and audio, about this tragic day private and out of the hands of people who’d like to misuse it for political gain. 

Michael Moore and the hoaxers want to publish this gruesome information. For the sake of the surviving children and families, it’s important to keep the information private. Other gruesome scenes have been kept private– like the scene around Congresswoman Giffords shooting, Vince Foster’s suicide, and Dale Earnhardt’s automobile accident. This crime has received such international attention, it should be afforded the same treatment. 

Supported by: Nicole and Ian Hockley, Mark and Jackie Barden, Jimmy Greene and Nelba Marquez-Greene, Jeremy Richman and Jennifer Hensel, Erica Lafferty, Shannon and Brian Engel, Michele and Bob Gay, and Trica and Dean Pinto. 

The following is a statement made my Nicole Hockley regarding this petition: 

Dylan is my son. I want to preserve his memory as a beautiful boy- not as a gun-riddled corpse. I also do not want his brother Jake to see these photos or listen to the execution of his brother, friends, or teachers on 911 tapes.

The following is a statement made by Lauren O’Neill, Daniel Barden’s cousin, about the petition: 

My 7-year-old cousin Daniel Barden was violently murdered in the Sandy Hook shooting. I am asking you, on behalf of my family, to please keep the sensitive details and photographs of Daniel and other victims private. Please do not release this information. There are twenty-five other families who are experiencing pain, just as we are. In addition, an entire town, a community, and a nation is deeply affected. Releasing information and photos is a violation of our privacy. We also believe its a violation of the rights of the victims themselves. They do not deserve to have their final moments, which are no doubt gruesome and disturbing, put on display for the world to see. They deserve to be remembered for who they were in life. To the world, these photos are simply “victims.” To us, and many others, these victims are our children, our siblings, our grandchildren, and our dear friends.

The following is a statement made by Joel Bacon, Charlotte Bacon’s father, regarding the petition: 

My daughter, Charlotte Bacon, was a victim of the Sandy Hook shooting. Please help to protect the privacy of our loved ones.

The following is a statement made by Tricia Pinto, Jack Pinto’s mother, regarding the petition: 

My son, Jack, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. My family and the other twenty-five families have experienced unimaginable loss. Please help us to protect the privacy of our loved ones. Photos and 911 calls of that horrific event serve no purpose to the public, but will cause a lifetime of agony to our families, our surviving children, and the town.

Here is an emotional plea made by Devin Imperati, a fifteen-old-student in New Fairfield, CT, regarding the petition:

As a fifteen-year-old high schooler who was in lockdown on 12/14, wondering if siblings of my friends were being struck down, I am begging our government to do the right thing. After these events, I began to have panic attacks. I was nervous every time I went to school. Police officers still patrol our hallways and the doors are locked right when the home bell rings. I know someone who knew one of the children. Seeing what happened in that school would be too much to bear.

On top of that, children today all have access to that sort of content. The Internet can be both a blessing and a curse, and since more kids have Internet access now than ever before, any child could see this content- including young children. They should not have to live with the thought that being at school may not be safe. They should not have to look at a gruesome photo from this event and wonder if it will happen to them, as I and many classmates have wondered. 

The integrity of the families should be preserved and the innocence of other children cherished. These photos should not be released. It’s just too much.