Parents of Sandy Hook shooting victim demand $150 million from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones: “His lies made our lives hell” | Abroad

Radio host Alex Jones is the man behind the far-right fake news website and radio show Infowars. After the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in which gunman Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and six staff members, Jones dismissed the facts as fabrications for years. His followers believed him and began to harass the victims’ parents.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of six-year-old Jesse Lewis who was killed in the shooting, are suing Jones and his company Free Speech Systems LLC for $150 million in damages. Jones was found guilty of libel last year. During this process, it will have to be determined how much he will have to pay Jesse Lewis’ parents.

Heslin told jurors Tuesday that the lies Jones spread to his millions of listeners made his life hell and sparked a smear campaign by people who believed he was lying about his son’s death. “I can’t even describe the hell I’ve endured over the past 9.5 years as a result of Alex Jones’ negligence and recklessness, and the propaganda he spread for his own gain and success,” the father said.

Describing years of harassment and death threats from Jones supporters, Heslin reported an incident in which a person drove past his residence and fired shots, yelling “Infowars” and “Alex Jones.” The father, who held his dead son’s body in his hands after the shooting, said he relives that moment every time he hears Jones claim the facts never happened. “I can’t even describe how hard it is to lose a child like that,” the man said.

Scarlett, the mother of Jesse Lewis, told how on Christmas Day an unknown person suddenly stopped in her driveway in the morning and started taking pictures. The woman has a firearm in the house because she fears for the safety of her child. “I am a single mother responsible for the safety of both my sons, and I have failed to protect one of them, so I am going to make sure my surviving son is safe,” she said. Scarlett Lewis believes Jones knew he was spreading lies, but went ahead with it because it attracted listeners and helped him market his nutritional supplements and other products.

A Jones attorney claims his client already paid a heavy price when his social media accounts were deleted in 2018, causing him to lose millions of followers. During the hearing on Wednesday, Jones said it was “crazy” of him to claim that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, acknowledging that the shooting was “100 percent real.”

Jones claims that years ago he distanced himself from the theory that the shooting was staged. The man claims his view of events was misrepresented by political opponents of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. “I never intended to harm you intentionally,” he said directly to the parents in court on Tuesday.

But Lewis didn’t accept that, and she referred to that morning’s radio broadcast, in which Jones still questioned Heslin’s credibility. “I know you believe me, and yet you leave this courtroom and say it again on your show,” the woman said. “Do you have the ability to put yourself in my shoes? Do you have empathy?”

In addition, Mark Bankston, the attorney for Heslin and Lewis, also showed the jury a video today in which Jones dismisses the jury as biased in the trial. The jury is full of people “who don’t know what planet they are on,” Jones says in the video. In addition, Banston also showed the jurors an image of Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, who presides over the case, in flames. Jones, however, denied that the image revolves around Gamble (left) in the photo, claiming it is Lady Justice, who is in the center of the photo. Gamble found Jones guilty of libel in 2021.

Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy last week. Jones said on a broadcast Monday that the filing will help the company stay afloat while it appeals. There is a hearing in the case on Wednesday.

Adam Lanza, 20, is responsible for the Sandy Hook shooting. The massacre ended when he shot himself when he heard police sirens.