AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The detective who led the investigation into the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting testified Tuesday that there are three types of people who deny it happened and harass victims’ families: the mentally ill, those who believed wrongly. or incomplete information, and those who knew the truth but twisted it for their own “power or money”.
The researchers 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 a of the children who died in Texas, the deadliest school shooting in US history.
“It’s absolutely horrific the amount of trauma they’ve had to endure after losing a loved one,” said Jewiss, who called supporting the Sandy Hook families the “most honorable” thing he’s ever done has been part of
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was killed in the Newtown, Conn., school shooting, are seeking $150 million for emotional distress and reputational damage Jones caused them, and more money in punitive damages, his attorney, Mark Bankston, told the court during his opening statement as Jones looked on, shaking his head at times.
Jones “lied and attacked the parents of the slain children” repeatedly 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 murder, the lawyer said.
Jones took advantage of 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 in his program that the shooting was a hoax and “the whole thing.” the thing was completely false. … 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 in court with 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 expression. … Speech is free, but lies must be paid for.”
During opening statements for the defense, Jones’ attorney Andino Reynal called Jones one of the “most polarizing people 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 such remarks when he was kicked out of Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Twitter for violating their hate speech policies.
Jones “has already been written off” and lost millions of dollars, said Reynal, who asked the jury to limit damages to $1.
Reynal painted a picture of a talk show host who “tries to give an alternative view” but was misled 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 that a citizen has a right to go on Infowars and talk about what their questions,” Reynal said.
He also described the case as important for freedom of expression.
“I believe in their right to say it, and I believe in the right of all Americans to choose what they see, hear and believe,” Reynal said.
Between opening statements from both sides, Jones stormed out of the courtroom to rant at reporters, calling it a “kangaroo court” and a “show trial” that was an assault on the First Amendment. He did not return to the courtroom for the start of the afternoon’s testimony, which included Infowars producer Daria Karpova taking the stand.
Jones’ media company appointed Karpova to testify about Infowars’ audience reach and some of the videos produced by the website after the Sandy Hook shooting. The trial was adjourned for the rest of the day before scheduled testimony ended.
The jury could deal Jones a significant financial hit that would further jeopardize his conspiracy-trafficking business constellation. In addition to being banned from major social media platforms, he claims he is millions of dollars in debt, a claim the plaintiffs reject.
A court in Texas 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, judges entered default judgments against Jones without trial because he failed to respond to subpoenas and turn over documents.
In all, 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 statement in April, Jones insisted that he was not responsible for the suffering Sandy Hook parents say they suffered because of the hoax conspiracy, including death threats and harassment from Jones’ supporters.
Jones claimed in court records last year that he had a negative net worth of $20 million, but attorneys for the Sandy Hook families have painted a different financial picture.
Court records show Jones’ Infowars store, which sells nutritional supplements and survival gear, made more than $165 million between 2015 and 2018. Jones has also urged listeners to his Infowars show to donate money.
Tribal began Monday in Austin, Texas, where Jones lives and broadcasts his show, after 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 kilometers) southwest of Austin. It was the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook.