Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones testified Wednesday that he now realizes it was irresponsible of him to call the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre a hoax and that he now believes it was “100 percent real.”
Speaking a day after the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the 2012 attack testified about the distress, death threats and harassment they suffered because of what Jones trumpeted on his media platforms, the Infowars host told the Texan courtroom that he definitely believes the assault happened.
“Especially after meeting the parents. It’s 100 percent true,” Jones said during the trial to determine how much he and his media company Free Speech Systems owe for defamation of Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis. Their son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 students and six teachers killed in the attack in Newtown, Connecticut, the deadliest school shooting in American history.
Alex Jones enters the courtroom before Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, the parents of 6-year-old Sand Hook shooting victim Jessie Lewis, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas, July 28, 2022. BRIANNA SANCHEZ/POOL
But Heslin and Lewis said Tuesday that an apology would not be enough and that Jones should be held accountable for repeatedly spreading lies about the attack. They are seeking at least $150 million.
Jones told the jury that any damages above $2 million “would sink us,” but added, “I think it’s appropriate for whatever you decide what you want to do.”
Testimony ended around noon, and closing arguments are expected to begin Wednesday afternoon.
Jones was the only person to testify in his own defense. His lawyer asked him if he now understood that it was “absolutely irresponsible” to push false claims that the massacre did not take place and that no one died.
Jones said he did, but added, “They (the media) won’t let me take it back.”
He also complained that he was “typecast as somebody who runs around talking about Sandy Hook, makes money off Sandy Hook, is obsessed with Sandy Hook.”
Under testy cross-examination by attorney Mark Bankston, Jones acknowledged his history of making conspiracy claims regarding other mass tragedies, from the Oklahoma City bombings and the Boston Marathon to the mass shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida.
Bankston then went after Jones’ credibility, showing an Infowars video clip from last week when a host — not Jones — claimed the trial was rigged and included a photo of the judge on fire. Then came another clip of Jones asking if the jury was chosen from a group of people “who don’t know what planet” they live on. Jones said he didn’t mean that part literally.
Bankston said Jones failed to comply with court orders to provide text messages and emails to gather evidence before the trial. Jones said, “I don’t use email,” then was shown one collected from another source that came from his email address. He replied, “I must have dictated it.”
At one point, Bankston informed Jones that his attorneys had mistakenly sent Bankston text messages for the past two years from Jones’ cell phone.
The lawyer also showed the court an email from an Infowars business officer who informed Jones that the company had grossed $800,000 from the sale of its products in one day, which would amount to nearly $300 million in a year. Jones said it was the company’s best day in sales.
Jones’ testimony came a day after Heslin and Lewis said in a courtroom in Austin, where Jones and his companies are based, that Jones and the false fraud claims he and Infowars were pushing had made their lives a “living hell” with death threats , online abuse and harassment.
They testified Tuesday in which the judge scolded the bombastic Jones for not telling the truth in part of what he said under oath.
In a fascinating exchange, Lewis turned directly to Jones, who was sitting about 10 feet away. Earlier that day, Jones was on his show telling his audience that Heslin was “slow” and being manipulated by bad people.
“I’m a mother first, and I know you’re a father. My son existed,” Lewis told Jones. “I’m not deep state … I know you know that … And yet you’re going to leave this courthouse and say it again on your show.”
At one point, Lewis asked Jones, “Do you think I’m an actor?”
“No, I don’t think you’re an actor,” Jones replied, before the judge warned him to remain silent until he was called to testify.
Heslin and Lewis are among several Sandy Hook families who have filed lawsuits, alleging that claims of Sandy Hook fraud pushed by Jones led to years of abuse by him and his followers.
“What was said about me and Sandy Hook itself reverberates around the world,” Heslin said. “As time went on, I really realized how dangerous it was.”
Jones skipped Heslin’s testimony Tuesday morning while on his show — a move Heslin dismissed as “cowardly” — but did arrive in the courtroom for part of Scarlett Lewis’ testimony. He was accompanied by several private security guards.
“Today is very important to me and it’s been a long time coming … to stand up to Alex Jones for what he said and did to me. To restore my son’s honor and legacy,” Heslin said when Jones was not there.
Heslin told the jury that he held his son with a bullet hole in his head, even describing the extent of the damage to his son’s body. A key segment of the case is a 2017 Infowars broadcast that says Heslin did not hold his son.
In 2017, Heslin went on television, he told CBS News, to address Sandy Hook deniers directly. “I lost my son. I buried my son. I held my son with a bullet hole in the head,” he said.
After that, the harassment only got worse, Heslin said.
“I’ve gotten a lot of death threats,” Heslin told CBS News in 2018. “People say, ‘You must be the one with the bullet hole in your head.’
The jury was shown a school photo of a smiling Jesse taken two weeks before he was killed. The parents received the photo only after the shooting. They described how Jesse was known to tell his classmates to “run!” which probably saved lives.
Jones later took the stand Tuesday and was initially aggressive toward the judge, who had asked him to answer his own attorney’s question. Jones testified that he had long wanted to apologize to the plaintiffs.
The judge later escorted the jury out of the room and strongly berated Jones for telling the jury that he had complied with the preliminary evidence collection when he had not and that he was bankrupt, which was not determined. Plaintiffs’ lawyers were angered by Jones’ mention that he was bankrupt, which they feared would taint the jury’s decisions on damages.
“This is not your show,” Judge Maya Guerra Gamble told Jones. “Your beliefs do not make something true. You are under oath.’
Last September, the judge admonished Jones in his ruling for failing to hand over documents requested by Sandy Hook families. A Connecticut court issued a similar default judgment against Jones on the same grounds in a separate lawsuit filed by other Sandy Hook parents.
At stake in the trial is how much Jones will pay. The parents have asked the jury to award $150 million in damages for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A jury will then decide whether Jones and his company will pay punitive damages.
Jones has already tried to financially protect Free Speech Systems. The company filed for federal bankruptcy protection last week. The Sandy Hook families separately sued Jones over his financial claims, alleging the company was trying to protect millions owned by Jones and his family through shell entities.
Rampage in elementary school
More more
Add Comment