BREAKING: WABC: One dead in school shooting in Newtown, CT

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Newtown gunman’s motives may never be understood: Investigators
Dan Burns, Reuters
First posted: Monday, November 25, 2013 03:25 PM EST | Updated: Monday, November 25, 2013 09:38 PM EST
NEWTOWN, Conn. - The man who killed 26 people including 20 children in an attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School almost a year ago acted alone and his motive may never be known, according to an investigative report released on Monday.
The state attorney’s report said that the criminal investigation into the shooting by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who murdered his mother before attacking the school and ended the rampage by turning his gun on himself is now closed and no charges will be brought.
Investigators said there was evidence that Lanza planned his rampage, but did not discuss his plans with others.
“The obvious question that remains is: ‘Why did the shooter murder twenty-seven people, including twenty children?’ Unfortunately, that question may never be answered conclusively,” the report said.
While the large informal memorials that arose in this town of 27,000 residents in the days after the shooting have long been removed, small commemorations are sprinkled throughout the sprawling town.
Last year, on the morning of Dec. 14, Lanza shot and killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, in her bed in their Newtown home, and then forced his way into Sandy Hook, which he once attended.
In a series of emails to Newtown parents last week, John Reed, the town’s interim schools superintendent, addressed the report’s release and cautioned parents to be mindful of their children’s’ emotional well-being.
“By supporting one another, we will work our way through these challenging circumstances,” Reed said.
A Connecticut law passed earlier this year said that some evidence from the state’s investigation will never be made available to the public.
The law, passed in response to the shooting, prohibits the release of photographs, film, video and other visual images showing a homicide victim if they can “reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of the victim or the victim’s surviving family members.”
Adam Lanza is seen in an undated identification photo released by Western Connecticut State University. (Western Connecticut State University/Handout)

Newtown gunman’s motives may never be understood: Investigators | World | News | Toronto Sun

he looks perfectly normal. :shock: ;)
 

Mowich

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Kelly hit another low with this interview. As if Sandy Hook families haven't been through enough along comes this idiot badly in need of a ratings boost and deals them yet another blow. There is no defense, Kelly - none at all. You did it because your future at NBC is on shaky ground and you needed to do something to turn that around. You have no compassion what-so-ever for the victims of that carnage. You are no better than that mentally challenged hoaxer.
 

Danbones

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THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2017
Sandy Hook: Neil Heslin CONTRADICTS Official Narrative

Jim Fetzer and Kelley Watt

A major contradiction in the Sandy Hook narrative emerged during Megyn Kelly's interview with Alex Jones, during which Sandy Hook parent, Neil Heslin, who had testified to Congress about the loss of his son, Jesse, said that he had held his body "with a bullet hole in the head" in his arms at the scene.

But, according to Wayne Carver, M.D., Medical Examiner, who is quoted in the following story from The Newtown Patch (24 January 2013), none of the parents were allowed to come into contact with the children but were only shown photographs of them, "because it's easier that way":
Relatives identified their loved ones not in person but by photos taken of the victims’ faces, Carver said.

“We did not bring the bodies and families into contact, we took pictures of them, of their facial features,” he said. “It’s easier on the families when you do that. There is a time and place for up close and personal in the grieving process but to accomplish this we felt it would be best to do it this way.”

Moreover, while Carver reported that each kid was shot from 3 to 11 times, Heslin said that Jesse had a bullet through his head, suggesting he was only hit once. Here is the testimony of Heslin during Megyn Kelly's interview with Alex Jones, which occurs at about 17 minutes into the show:
JAMES FETZER: Sandy Hook: Neil Heslin CONTRADICTS Official Narrative

Funny who's side it is that keeps getting caught lying

Kelly hit another low with this interview. As if Sandy Hook families haven't been through enough along comes this idiot badly in need of a ratings boost and deals them yet another blow. There is no defense, Kelly - none at all. You did it because your future at NBC is on shaky ground and you needed to do something to turn that around. You have no compassion what-so-ever for the victims of that carnage. You are no better than that mentally challenged hoaxer.

...and by discussing this, how are you different for them, except for the false stink of hypocrisy?
Seriously, I expect an answer from you to that question.
HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT FROM THEM while you discuss this in public?

Also, if you are wrong, and you certainly have not justified your opinion with any thing factual in the face of all the discrepancies, you may be doing any victims the infinitely worse crime of
NO JUSTICE.
:(
After all the times the the US gov has been busted lying only a complete fool would accept anything they say without total investigation.

So, in the complete absence of proof on YOUR part, use the word "hoaxer" carefully unless it winds up applying to you.
 

spaminator

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Sandy Hook conspiracists lose defamation case to dad of slain boy
Brad Hunter
Published:
June 19, 2019
Updated:
June 19, 2019 2:06 PM EDT
Noah Pozner, 6, was shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School with 25 others. Conspiracy theorists believe he never existed and the massacre never happened. A judge has proven them wrong.
Two men who spread vile conspiracy theories over the tragic 2012 Sandy Hook massacre have lost a defamation lawsuit to a heartbroken dad.
The sickening tome — ‘Nobody Died at Sandy Hook’ by James Fetzer and Mike Palacek — posited that the massacre never happened.
James Fetzer claimed Sandy Hook never happened and young victim Noah Pozner never existed.
In fact, 26 people — including 20 children — were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012.
But Lenny Pozner wasn’t about to roll over for the darkest fringes of America.
His six-year-old son, Noah, was among the children murdered at the school. The authors claimed the tragic little boy’s death certificate was bogus.
“If Mr. Fetzer wants to believe that Sandy Hook never happened and that we are all crisis actors, even that my son never existed, he has the right to be wrong. But he doesn’t have the right to broadcast those beliefs if they defame me or harass me,” Pozner said.
“He doesn’t have the right to use my baby’s image or our name as a marketing ploy to raise donations or sell his products. He doesn’t have the right to convince others to hunt my family.”
Lenny Pozner with his son Noah, who was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre. Pozner just won a defamation suit against two men who claimed the tragedy never happened.
Even before the trial, Fetzer doubled down and opined that “evidence clearly shows this wasn’t a massacre, it was a FEMA drill.”
He added: “If you believe otherwise, then you are being played.”
The book has now been yanked from the shelves and a trial to determine damages is slated for October.
In court, the conspiracy theories were shattered by DNA samples and a redacted death certificate for Noah.
In addition, Noah’s birth certificate, report cards and medical records were also included.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama reflected his nation’s mood at a press conference on the day of the Sandy Hook shooting. GETTY IMAGES
“My face-to-face interactions with Mr. Pozner have led me to believe that Mr. Pozner is telling the truth about the death of his son,” Dave Gahary, of publisher Moon Rock Books, said.
“I extend my most heartfelt and sincere apology to the Pozner family.”
Besides losing his son, Pozner has been the target of hoaxers. They claimed he was an actor and that Noah never existed.
Alex Jones, a right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist, arrives at the courthouse in Austin, Texas, on April 19, 2017. Jay Janner / AP
Meanwhile, a Connecticut judge sanctioned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — who also claimed the shooting was staged — for suggesting a lawyer for the families tried to frame him with child pornography.
Jones made the allegations on his Friday show.
Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis called Jones’ actions “indefensible,” “unconscionable,” and “possibly criminal behaviour.”
http://torontosun.com/news/world/sandy-hook-conspiracists-lose-defamation-case-to-dad-of-slain-boy
 

spaminator

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Maker of gun used in Sandy Hook massacre asks Supreme Court to block lawsuit
Reuters
Published:
August 1, 2019
Updated:
August 1, 2019 2:50 PM EDT
A sign stands near the site of the December 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting on the day of the National School Walkout on March 14, 2018 in Sandy Hook Connecticut. Getty Images
The maker of the assault-style rifle used in the 2012 mass shooting at a Newton, Connecticut, school asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to overturn a court ruling that allowed families of the victims to sue the company over its marketing practices.
Gunmaker Remington Outdoor Co made its plea to the nation’s top court after the Connecticut Supreme Court in March reinstated a wrongful death lawsuit against the gun maker by the families of nine people slain and one survivor of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
The families argued that the Remington AR-15 Bushmaster rifle that a 20-year-old gunman used to kill 20 children aged six and seven and six adult staffers was a weapon of war that was wrongly marketed to civilians for use in combat-style missions.
The gunmaker argued that the lawsuit should never have been allowed to proceed because a 2005 federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, shields gun manufacturers in most cases from liability when the firearms they produce are used in crimes.
While the law has an exemption for claims involving manufacturers who knowingly violate the law to sell or market guns, Remington’s lawyers argued that the Connecticut Supreme Court interpreted it too broadly to allow the case to proceed.
“This case is an archetypical example of the kind of lawsuit Congress sought to preempt,” Remington’s lawyers wrote.
They argued the Connecticut ruling threatens to unleash a flood of lawsuits against the firearms industry, despite Congress’ intention in 2005 to protect them from liability after an earlier wave of similar lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
The filing was long expected. Josh Koskoff, a lawyer for the family members, said Remington’s filing made no new or unexpected arguments.
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“Our state’s highest court has already ruled that the families deserve their day in court and we are confident that the U.S. Supreme Court will defer to that well-reasoned opinion,” he said in a statement.
The family members filed the lawsuit in 2014 against Remington and other defendants, including the gun’s distributor and the gun shop where the shooter’s mother had bought the AR-15.
A lower-court judge in 2016 dismissed the case. In a 4-3 decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court said while most of the lawsuit’s claims could not proceed, Remington could still be sued over its marketing under Connecticut law.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/ma...-massacre-asks-supreme-court-to-block-lawsuit
 

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Infowars founder Alex Jones must pay US$100Gs for calling Sandy Hook shooting a hoax
Reuters
Published:
December 31, 2019
Updated:
December 31, 2019 4:24 PM EST
Conspiracy promoter and right-wing media personality Alex Jones has been ordered to pay US$100,000 in court costs and legal fees stemming from a lawsuit over his claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre of school children was a hoax, court records show.
Jones, founder of the Infowars radio show and webcast, has claimed the mainstream media and gun-control proponents conspired to fabricate the tragedy in which 20 school children and six school staff were shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.
In response, several parents of the slain six- and seven-year-old children sued Jones and Infowars for defamation and emotional distress in Texas, where Infowars is based, and in Connecticut.
In Texas, Travis County District Court Judge Scott Jenkins on Dec. 20 ordered Jones and Infowars to pay more than $100,000 in a case brought by Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, was killed at the school. The Daily Beast first reported the rulings on Monday.
The judge’s filings ordered Jones to pay more than $100,000 for failing to provide discovery, or evidence owed to the opposing side, and for filing a frivolous request to dismiss the case. In October, the same judge ordered Jones to pay another $25,875 for failing to respond to a previous discovery order.
Jones’ attorney, Wade Jefferies, said the lawsuit should be dismissed on freedom of speech grounds and said he would appeal the judge’s decision not to dismiss it. He also said the legal payments ordered by the judge were excessive.
“As to the actual amounts of attorney’s fees awarded, in my opinion, and every lawyer with knowledge of the case I have talked to agrees, the attorney’s fee awards are excessive,” Jefferies said in an email.
The Sandy Hook tragedy rocked the United States when a 20-year-old man shot and killed his mother at home and then went on a rampage at the school, also killing himself.
Jones began promoting the fiction that the event was staged. After conducting what he called “deep research,” Jones said in 2014 “the whole thing was fake.”
However, in a deposition linked to one of the suits, Jones later conceded that “children died and it’s a tragedy,” while also denying he had wronged the parents of the slain children.
Mark Bankston, an attorney representing Heslin and three other Sandy Hook parents, said Jones has “put a middle finger up to the court.”
“Hopefully these orders will have the effect of telling him there’s severe consequences for this,” Bankston said.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/in...s100gs-for-calling-sandy-hook-shooting-a-hoax
 

JLM

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Infowars founder Alex Jones must pay US$100Gs for calling Sandy Hook shooting a hoax
Reuters
Published:
December 31, 2019
Updated:
December 31, 2019 4:24 PM EST
Conspiracy promoter and right-wing media personality Alex Jones has been ordered to pay US$100,000 in court costs and legal fees stemming from a lawsuit over his claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre of school children was a hoax, court records show.
Jones, founder of the Infowars radio show and webcast, has claimed the mainstream media and gun-control proponents conspired to fabricate the tragedy in which 20 school children and six school staff were shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.
In response, several parents of the slain six- and seven-year-old children sued Jones and Infowars for defamation and emotional distress in Texas, where Infowars is based, and in Connecticut.
In Texas, Travis County District Court Judge Scott Jenkins on Dec. 20 ordered Jones and Infowars to pay more than $100,000 in a case brought by Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, was killed at the school. The Daily Beast first reported the rulings on Monday.
The judge’s filings ordered Jones to pay more than $100,000 for failing to provide discovery, or evidence owed to the opposing side, and for filing a frivolous request to dismiss the case. In October, the same judge ordered Jones to pay another $25,875 for failing to respond to a previous discovery order.
Jones’ attorney, Wade Jefferies, said the lawsuit should be dismissed on freedom of speech grounds and said he would appeal the judge’s decision not to dismiss it. He also said the legal payments ordered by the judge were excessive.
“As to the actual amounts of attorney’s fees awarded, in my opinion, and every lawyer with knowledge of the case I have talked to agrees, the attorney’s fee awards are excessive,” Jefferies said in an email.
The Sandy Hook tragedy rocked the United States when a 20-year-old man shot and killed his mother at home and then went on a rampage at the school, also killing himself.
Jones began promoting the fiction that the event was staged. After conducting what he called “deep research,” Jones said in 2014 “the whole thing was fake.”
However, in a deposition linked to one of the suits, Jones later conceded that “children died and it’s a tragedy,” while also denying he had wronged the parents of the slain children.
Mark Bankston, an attorney representing Heslin and three other Sandy Hook parents, said Jones has “put a middle finger up to the court.”
“Hopefully these orders will have the effect of telling him there’s severe consequences for this,” Bankston said.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/in...s100gs-for-calling-sandy-hook-shooting-a-hoax


It would be nice if someone killed the Asshole!
 

spaminator

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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones found liable in lawsuit over school shooting denial
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Nov 15, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
In this handout photo provided by the Travis County Sheriffs Office, InfoWars founder Alex Jones is seen in a police booking photo in Austin after his arrest on charges of driving while intoxicated after a traffic stop in Travis County, Texas, March 10, 2020.
In this handout photo provided by the Travis County Sheriffs Office, InfoWars founder Alex Jones is seen in a police booking photo in Austin after his arrest on charges of driving while intoxicated after a traffic stop in Travis County, Texas, March 10, 2020. PHOTO BY TRAVIS COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE / HANDOUT /Getty Images
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A Connecticut judge on Monday ruled in favour of the families of victims of a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in a defamation suit against Alex Jones after he defaulted by failing to provide documents, attorneys for the plaintiffs said.

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Jones, founder of the right-wing website Infowars, claimed the shooting, in which 20 children and six school employees were shot dead at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, was fabricated by gun-control advocates and mainstream media.

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In response, several parents sued Jones and Infowars, as well as its parent company, for defamation in both Austin, Texas and in Waterbury, Connecticut. Infowars is based in Texas.

Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis ruled that Jones had defaulted on the case by refusing to turn over documents she ordered regarding whether his companies profited from publishing the false claim, Attorney Chris Mattei said in a statement.

“Mr. Jones was given every opportunity to comply but, when he chose instead to withhold evidence for more than two years, the Court was left with no choice but to rule as it did today,” said Mattei, whose firm, Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, represents families of the Sandy Hook victims.

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“While the families are grateful for the court’s ruling, they remain focused on uncovering the truth,” he said.

Norm Pattis, who represents Infowars, said: “We remain confident that, in the end, the Sandy Hook families cannot prove either liability or damages. We think their lawyers know this; hence, the desperate effort to obtain a default.”

He added, “Thank God for appellate courts.”


The ruling follows a trio of losses for Jones in Texas on Oct. 1 when a judge presiding over other defamation suits also found that he had failed to comply with court orders to hand over documents to the parents of children killed in the attack.

In a deposition linked to one of the Texas suits, Jones eventually acknowledged the massacre had occurred, though he denied wronging the children’s parents.

Damages in the four cases have yet to be determined.
 

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Nine Sandy Hook families settle liability claims with Remington Arms
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Tom Hals and Brendan O'Brien
Publishing date:Feb 15, 2022 • 18 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
In this file photo taken Jan. 14, 2013, family members of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting attend a news conference in Newtown, Conn.
In this file photo taken Jan. 14, 2013, family members of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting attend a news conference in Newtown, Conn. PHOTO BY DON EMMERT /AFP via Getty Images / Files
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Remington Arms will pay $73 million to the families of five adults and four children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the families said on Tuesday, the first time a gunmaker has been held liable for a mass shooting in the United States.

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Twenty students and six adults were killed on Dec. 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut by gunman Adam Lanza, who used a Remington Bushmaster AR-15 rifle to shoot his way into the Sandy Hook Elementary School after killing his mother at home.

Remington Arms will pay $73 million to the families and release all the discovery and disposition material to the public. The settlement will be paid through insurance policies.

The nine families sued in 2014 and spent years in the courts trying to hold Remington liable, despite a U.S. law that protects gunmakers and dealers from most civil litigation.

“They had the energy, drive and motivation to do one thing. That was to do whatever they could so that other families … would not have to go through the pain and loss that they have,” said Josh Koskoff, an attorney for the families.

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The Sandy Hook families found a way around that legal protection for gunmakers by claiming that Remington’s marketing of firearms contributed to the massacre.

Other gun control advocates have since been encouraged to follow that strategy, including New Jersey’s attorney general who is investigating Smith & Wesson’s marketing.

Mexico filed a U.S. lawsuit last year seeking $10 billion from several gunmakers, accusing them of marketing their weapons to the country’s underworld.

New York last year enacted a law that allows firearm sellers, manufacturers and distributors to be sued for creating a “public nuisance” that endangers the public’s safety and health. Gun manufacturers have challenged the law in court.

Gun groups have also been using the courts and state legislatures to expand gun rights and have scored victories at the Supreme Court in 2008 and 2010 that established an individual’s right to keep a gun at home for self-defence.
 

spaminator

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Sandy Hook families can resume defamation lawsuits against InfoWars' Alex Jones: Attorneys
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Dietrich Knauth
Publishing date:May 13, 2022 • 22 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation

Families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre will be dismissed from the InfoWars bankruptcy case, allowing them to resume their defamation lawsuits against the website’s owner, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, attorneys said in court on Friday.


Lawyers for the families had accused the far-right wing website of seeking Chapter 11 protection in Texas for “sinister” purposes, and sought to have the bankruptcy dismissed.

They had alleged the case was not filed for a valid purpose under bankruptcy law, but to force the families into settlements instead of proceeding with trials that will determine the amount of damages they are owed for defamation judgments relating to Jones’ false claims that the school mass shooting was a hoax.

InfoWars attorney Kyun Lee said on Friday that the dispute is close to being resolved, by allowing the families to withdraw their claims against the bankrupt InfoWars entities and resume litigation against non-bankrupt defendants, like Alex Jones.


“They decided they don’t want to participate in these cases, and we’re fine with that,” Lee said.

The agreement with the Sandy Hook families has not been finalized, Lee said.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said he hoped for a resolution, but would continue to prepare for a May 27 hearing on whether or not the bankruptcy case should be dismissed.

Jones claimed the shooting, in which 20 first graders and six school employees were shot dead at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, was fabricated by gun-control advocates and mainstream media, adding to the immense pain of the parents and relatives of the victims.

InfoWars holding company, InfoW LLC, and two other media assets owned by Jones filed for Chapter 11 on April 17 after Jones and his media companies were found liable in multiple defamation lawsuits brought in Texas and Connecticut by families of the shooting victims.
 
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spaminator

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Detective: Alex Jones 'most dangerous' type of Sandy Hook attack denier
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jim Vertuno
Publishing date:Jul 27, 2022 • 1 day ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation

AUSTIN, Texas — The detective who led the investigation into the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School attack testified Tuesday that there are three types of people who deny that it happened and harass the victims’ families: the mentally ill, those who believed bad or incomplete information, and those who knew the truth but twisted it for their own “power or money.”


Investigators put conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in that final group.

“They were the most dangerous. That’s where we put Alex Jones,” Connecticut State Police Detective Daniel Jewiss told the jury on the first day of testimony in a Texas trial to determine how much Jones, who hosts Infowars, owes for defaming the parents of one of the children who died in the deadliest school shooting in American history.

“It’s absolutely horrific the amount of trauma they’ve had to endure in the wake of having lost a loved one,” said Jewiss, who called supporting the Sandy Hook families the “most honourable” thing he’s ever been part of.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was killed in the attack on the Newtown, Connecticut, school, are seeking $150 million for emotional distress and reputational damage that Jones caused them, and more money in punitive damages, their lawyer, Mark Bankston, told the court during his opening statement as Jones looked on, shaking his head at times.


Jones repeatedly “lied and attacked the parents of murdered children” when he told his Infowars audience that the shooting was a hoax, Bankston said. He created a “massive campaign of lies” and recruited “wild extremists from the fringes of the internet … who were as cruel as Mr. Jones wanted them to be” to the families of the 20 first-graders and six educators who were killed, the lawyer said.

Jones tapped into the explosive popularity of Sandy Hook conspiracy stories that became an “obsession” for the website, even years after the shooting, said Bankston, who played video clips of Jones claiming on his program that the shooting was a hoax and “the whole thing was completely fake. … It just didn’t happen.”

Anticipating that Jones’ lawyers would argue that what Jones said about Sandy Hook was speech protected by the First Amendment — Jones arrived at the courthouse wearing tape over his mouth with the message “Save the 1st” printed on it — Bankston told the jury, “This has nothing to do with the Constitution. Defamation is not protected by freedom of speech. … Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for.”


During the defence’s opening remarks, Jones’ lawyer Andino Reynal called Jones one of the “most polarizing figures in this nation,” who made statements about Sandy Hook “that we don’t dispute were wrong.” But he said Jones has already been punished for those statements when he was kicked off of Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Twitter for violating their hate speech policies.

Jones has “already been cancelled” and lost millions of dollars, said Reynal, who called on the jury to limit the damages to $1.

Reynal painted a picture of a talk show host who “tries to give an alternative view” but who was duped by some of his guests.

“Alex Jones was wrong to believe these people, but he didn’t do it out of spite. He did it because he believed it. … He believed a citizen has a right to get on Infowars and talk about what their questions are,” Reynal said.


He also called the case an important one for free speech.

“I believe in his right to say it, and I believe in every American’s right to choose what they watch, and listen to, and believe,” Reynal said.

Between the two sides’ opening statements, Jones stepped outside of the courtroom to rant to reporters, calling it a “kangaroo court” and “show trial” that was an assault on the First Amendment. He didn’t return to the courtroom for the afternoon start of testimony, which included Infowars producer Daria Karpova taking the stand.

Jones’ media company designated Karpova to testify about Infowars’ audience reach, and some of the video produced by the website after the Sandy Hook shooting. The trial took a break for the rest of the day before she finished planned testimony.


The jury could deal Jones a major financial blow that would put his constellation of conspiracy peddling businesses into deeper jeopardy. In addition to being banned from major social media platforms, he claims he’s millions of dollars in debt — a claim the plaintiffs reject.

The Texas court and another in Connecticut found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control. In both states, the judges issued default judgments against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents.

In total, the families of eight Sandy Hook victims and an FBI agent who responded to the school are suing Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems.


Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting took place. During a deposition in April, Jones insisted he wasn’t responsible for the suffering that Sandy Hook parents say they have endured because of the hoax conspiracy, including death threats and harassment by Jones’ followers.

Jones claimed in court records last year that he had a negative net worth of $20 million, but attorneys for Sandy Hook families have painted a different financial picture.

Court records show that Jones’ Infowars store, which sells nutritional supplements and survival gear, made more than $165 million between 2015 and 2018. Jones has also urged listeners on his Infowars program to donate money.

The tribal began Monday in Austin, Texas — where Jones lives and broadcasts his show — following months of delays. It also comes about two months after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which is about 145 miles (235 km) southwest of Austin. It was the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook.