Alex Jones to testify in defamation case over Sandy Hook shooting

Alex Jones to testify in defamation case over Sandy Hook shooting

The trial will determine how much he will pay for claiming the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.

Alex Jones (left) at the courthouse with a piece of tape over his mouth that reads ‘save the 1st’.  (AP pic)
AUSTIN:
US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is expected to take the stand today to defend against claims that he must pay the parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook massacre for falsely claiming the shooting was a hoax.

Jones, founder of the Infowars radio show and webcast, is on trial in a Texas court to determine how much he must pay for spreading falsehoods about the killing of 20 children and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec 14, 2012.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of slain 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, are seeking as much as US$150 million from Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems LLC.

A lawyer for Jones said he had already paid a price after being deplatformed in 2018 and losing millions of viewers. Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting took place. He was expected to take the stand today in his defence, a lawyer for the parents said.

The parents are also expected to testify today.

The defamation suit in Austin, Texas, where Infowars is based, is one of several brought by families of victims who say Jones’s followers harassed them as a result of his false claims.

The Sandy Hook gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, used a Remington Bushmaster rifle to carry out the massacre. It ended when Lanza killed himself with the approaching sound of police sirens.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.