Posted on 08/03/2022 7:48:07 PM PDT by Subcutaneous Fishstick Blues
Television host Alex Jones on Aug. 3 said he believes the mass shooting that took place in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, in 2012 was “100 percent real.”
“Especially since I’ve met the parents. It’s 100 percent real,” Jones said while on the stand in a courtroom in Austin, Texas.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son, Jesse, was among the 26 people killed in the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, filed a defamation suit in 2018 after a host on Jones’ network, InfoWars, said that Heslin was lying about holding his son’s body after the shooting.
Jones, the suit noted, has described the attack as “staged” and “a giant hoax.”
Jones, InfoWars, and another company he runs, Free Speech Systems, were named as defendants, along with the host, Owen Shroyer.
A judge in the area in 2021 entered a default judgment against the defendants because they failed to comply with duties related to discovery.
The trial happening now is to determine how much Jones will have to pay in damages.
Heslin and Lewis said Tuesday that an apology wouldn’t suffice and that Jones needed to be held accountable for repeatedly spreading falsehoods about the attack. They are seeking at least $150 million.
Closing arguments were expected to begin later Wednesday after more testimony from Jones, who has portrayed the lawsuit as an attack on his First Amendment rights.
Jones is the only person testifying in his own defense. His attorney asked him if he now understands it was “absolutely irresponsible” to push the false claims that the massacre didn’t happen and no one died.
Jones said he does, but added, “They won’t let me take it back.”
He also complained that he’s been “typecast as someone that runs around talking about Sandy Hook, makes money off Sandy Hook, is obsessed by Sandy Hook.”
Parents’ Testimony
Heslin testified earlier this week that statements made by Jones were “very disturbing.”
“I just couldn’t fathom or understand why people would question such a horrific tragedy and a loss. I still to this day can’t fathom it,” he said.
Lewis, meanwhile, spoke directly to Jones, telling him: “It doesn’t exist, that I’m ‘deep state.’ It’s just not true. I know you know that.”
She wondered why Jones made such statements, questioning whether it was for financial gain.
Jones has been broadcasting as the trial goes on, saying at one point that Heslin is “being manipulated by some very bad people” and is “slow” while Lewis “is not.”
“Do you think I’m an actor?” Lewis asked.
“No, I don’t think you’re an actor,” Jones responded before the judge admonished him to be quiet until called to testify.
Also on Tuesday, Jones told the parents, “I never intentionally tried to hurt you.”
“I never even said your name until this case came to court. I didn’t even really know who you were until a couple of years ago when all this started up,” he said.
Jones said he questions “every big event” and that “a lot of times it turns out that we’ve not been told the truth.”
He’s done.
Howard Stern has said a lot wilder things than Alex Jones.
Has anyone ever sued him for hurting their feelings?
He’s a nutjob but what does this say about the Sandman cases against NBC, ABC etc. Doesn’t even an oddball like Jones have First Amendment rights of does that only apply to liberal nutjob?
Why would he be putting the parents thru this?
I see other posters say he is insane but I say he is evil.
I meant more in that any credibility he may have had is pretty much shot.
It was real. The lack of protection was real too. The death that resulted from the lack of protection was also real. Alex Jones questioned whether the gun or the lack of safety assumed by the parents was real. Alex has a good question. And that question may make the parents uneasy. It may make the school uneasy. But a real and necessary question. And one that is protected by the constitution. Their bad feelings is not protected.
Default judgement.
The only question is how many zeros Mr. Jones will have to write on that check.
> Doesn’t even an oddball like Jones have First Amendment rights of does that only apply to liberal nutjob? <
The 1A protects you against the government, and only against the government. So the FBI can’t sue you if you defame them. But a private individual sure can. And that’s what’s happing here.
It will certainly be more than one dollar and nine cents.
Yeah, this example is not about Left vs Right. THIS is where the shock of authenticity or fear shakes a delusional, narcissistic, cowardly, and/or mindless phoney to the core! Just wait until the first nuke explodes within our borders; We'll see hundreds of lefty partisans sober up and "get real", very quickly.
No, this was so not “freedom of the press.” Are you kidding?
He didn’t put the parents through anything. They inserted themselves into this and want money.
I meant more in that any credibility he may have had is pretty much shot.
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I’m not following the details of the trial, so it doesn’t alter Jones’ credibility for me. I don’t think many people are studying the trial carefully.
People who read and believe a one page summary from CNN don’t listen to Jones’ show.
“Why would he be putting the parents thru this?”
Bullsh*t. You realize after all this time, those butt-hurt “parents” are after MONEY. It’s the other way around.
I only lost respect for Alex because he made a 180 from his former stance.
“He didn’t put the parents through anything. They inserted themselves into this and want money.”
****
DING DING DING SING We have a winner.
Good way to lose your audience permanently by admitting such a level of incredibility.
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