What did Alex Jones do? Parents of shooting victims demand $150 million in damages as Sandy Hook defamation trial begins

On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, the defamation trial against Alex Jones began in Austin, Texas. Jones has been charged with defamation and spreading false information through his website, Infowars. He is being sued by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, parents of 6-year-old Jesse, who was one of the victims of the deadly Sandy Hook school shooting.

---

Why is Alex Jones being sued? Lawyers deliver opening statements on first day of trial

The right-wing conspiracy theorist, who is the owner of the website Infowars, spent years claiming that the massacre, which took the lives of 28 people, was 'fake' and a 'false flag' operation. Through his website, Jones tried to convince his audience that the massacre was a governmental ploy hatched by then-president Barack Obama.

In his opening statement, lawyer Mark Bankston called it a "massive campaign of lies" and said:

"Jones told his audience that (Barack) Obama staged Sandy Hook, and not that Obama ordered the murder of those children, but that there were never even children at all."

Alex Jones further expressed his belief that the parents were merely paid actors who were hired to grieve publicly, since the massacre was entirely just a public spectacle.

"Jones said the school was fake, the parents liars, paid actors. The funerals fake, their tears fake."

In a broadcast video, Jones harshly mocked the grieving parents who had lost their children in the senseless attack. He stated that there were photos to support his claim and that the deceased victims were, in fact, alive.

Mark Bankston brought it up and said:

"Jones said there were photos of victims still alive. This is so disgusting, so repulsive, that I feel silly standing here and telling you that’s false."

According to court documents, Jones used the Sandy Hook tragedy to expand his audience and profited off it by selling products and merchandise. He has previously lost three other defamation cases involving his opinions on the Sandy Hook tragedy through default judgements. In September, Alex Jones is set to face a jury in Connecticut regarding the damage.

Mark Bankston stated that his clients, who were injured by Jones' actions, are demanding $150 million for "emotional distress and reputational damage." In front of the Texas jury, he said:

"This has nothing to do with the constitution. Defamation is not protected by freedom of speech … Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for."

Alex Jones' lawyer, Andino Reynal, did not refute Bankston's statements, but asked for the amount to be reduced to $1 million. He stated that his client had to bear heavy financial losses after being banned from various social media platforms, including YouTube and Facebook. Jones abstained from attending the first day of the trial due to unspecified medical issues.

---

Remembering Sandy Hook in the midst of the ongoing Alex Jones defamation trial

On December 14, 2012, news of a horrible school shooting ripped through the nation. Death loomed large over a small town in Connecticut as 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother, followed by 26 other people at an elementary school. Among the victims, twenty were children under the age of eight.

Over the past few years, Alex Jones has mocked and questioned the tragedy many times, which left numerous families heartbroken and the entire country reeling. On public platforms, he claimed that the attack was staged to demand gun control laws.

While his lawyer told the jury that it was Jones' "right to say" what he wanted as an American citizen who is entitled to freedom of speech, both the Texas court and the Connecticut court found Alex Jones guilty of defamation.