In A Recent Interview, Alex Jones Conceded That Sandy Hook Was A Real Attack.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones admitted to a federal jury on Wednesday that he now understands that claiming Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax was irresponsible and now believes that it was a “100% real” event.
In A Recent Interview, Alex Jones Conceded That Sandy Hook Was A Real Attack.
After the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the 2012 attack testified about the suffering, death threats, and harassment they have encountered because of what Jones has promoted on his media platforms, Infowars host Alex Jones told a Texas courtroom yesterday that he absolutely believes that the attack actually took place.
Particularly since I’ve met the parents. “It’s 100% true,” Jones said during his trial before a jury to determine how much he and his media company, Free Speech Systems, owe for defaming Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 students and six teachers who were killed in the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, which was the deadliest school shooting in American history.
However, Heslin and Lewis said Tuesday that an apology would not suffice and that Jones should be held accountable for repeatedly spreading falsehoods about the attack.
They are seeking a settlement of at least $150 million.
According to Jones, any compensation in excess of $2 million will sink us, but he continued to say: “I think it’s appropriate for whatever you decide what you want to do.”
There was a conclusion to the testimony around midday, and closing arguments are expected to begin on Wednesday afternoon.
As far as we know, Jones is the only one who is testifying in his own defense. There is no doubt that his attorney asked him if he now understood that pushing the false claims that there was no massacre and no one died was “absolutely irresponsible”.
According to Jones, he does, but he added that “They (the media) won’t let me take that back.”.
Furthermore, he complained that he’s been “typecast as someone who runs around talking about Sandy Hook, makes money off Sandy Hook, and is obsessed with Sandy Hook.”
As part of his cross-examination by attorney Mark Bankston, Jones acknowledged he has a history of making conspiracy allegations related to a number of other mass tragedies, such as the Oklahoma City bombings and the Boston Marathon bombings, as well as the mass shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland.
A few minutes later, Bankston went after Jones’ credibility by showing a clip from Infowars from last week where a host – not Jones – claimed the trial was rigged and displayed a photo of the judge in flames along with the claim.
Then there was a clip of Jones asking if the jury was selected from a group of people who do not know what planet they live on and if so, which planet they belong to.
In response to the question, Jones stated that he did not mean that part literally.
During the pretrial evidence-gathering process, Bankston said that Jones had not complied with court orders requiring her to provide text messages and emails. When Jones said, “I don’t use email,” he was then shown one that was gathered from another source and came from his email address, and he replied, “I don’t use email.” Jones replied, “I must have dictated that to you.”
As a matter of fact, at one point, Bankston informed Jones that his attorneys had mistakenly sent him all of the texts from Jones’ cell phone over the past two years.
In addition, the attorney also showed the court an email from an Infowars business officer informing the court that Infowars had earned $800,000 gross in sales of its products during a single day, which equated to approximately $300 million in sales for the company during the entire year.
As far as Jones is concerned, that was the company’s best day in terms of sales so far.
The testimony of Jones comes a day after Heslin and Lewis, who are based in Austin, where Jones and his companies are based, testified in the courtroom that Jones and the hoax claim he and Infowars pushed for a year and a half have made their lives a “living hell” filled with death threats, online abuse, and harassment.
The pair took part in a day of charged testimony on Tuesday that included the judge scolding the bombastic Jones for not being truthful in some of what he said while under oath.
As Lewis spoke directly to Jones, who was sitting about 10 feet away from him at the time, it was a gripping exchange. The previous day, during Jones’ broadcast program, Jones had told his audience that Heslin was being manipulated by bad people and that he was “slow”.
My son existed. I am a mother first and foremost, and I know that you are a father as well. My son existed,” Lewis said to Jones in response.
“I’m not part of the deep state, as you know. And yet you’re going to leave this courthouse and say it again on your show,” Lewis said to Jones in response.
There was a point in the conversation where Lewis asked Jones “Do you think I’m an actor?”.”
Jones replied, “I don’t think you’re an actor,” before the judge informed him that he must remain silent until he is called to testify in court.
There are several Sandy Hook families, including Heslin and Lewis, who have filed lawsuits alleging that Jones and his followers have abused Sandy Hook families for years because of the hoax claims pushed by Jones and his followers.
“The things that were said about me and what happened at Sandy Hook resonate around the world,” Heslin said. “As time progressed, I became aware of the danger it posed.”
Heslin, who was on his show on Tuesday morning, skipped Heslin’s testimony – a move that Heslin dismissed as “cowardly” – but was in the courtroom briefly to listen to Scarlett Lewis’ testimony. Several private security guards also accompanied Jones in the courtroom.
In my opinion, today is one of the most important days of my life, and it has taken me a long time to come to terms with what Alex Jones said and did to me.
“I want to restore the honor and legacy of my son, Heslin said when Jones was not present.
In his testimony to the jury, Heslin told them he held his son with a bullet hole in his head and described in detail the extent of the damage to his son’s body. A key aspect of the case revolves around an Infowars broadcast from 2017 that claimed Heslin didn’t hold his son.
During the trial, the jury was shown an image of a smiling Jesse from two weeks before he was killed, which had been taken in a school two weeks before his death.
The parents of Jesse were not notified of the photo until after the shooting, but they described how their son was known to tell his classmates to “run!” which is likely to have saved many lives in the long run, if not already.
Taking the stand later Tuesday, Jones was initially hostile toward the judge, who had asked him to answer a question posed by his own attorney, when he took the witness stand.
Jones testified that he had been wanting to apologize to the plaintiffs for a long time.
The judge later sent the jury out of the room and strongly reprimanded Jones for telling the jury he had complied with pretrial evidence gathering even though he had not, and for telling the jury that he was bankrupt, an issue that has yet to be resolved.
Upon hearing Jones mention he was bankrupt, the plaintiffs’ attorneys were furious, worrying that this will taint the jury’s decision about damages if the jury decides he is bankrupt.
As Judge Maya Guerra Gamble told Jones, “This is not your show.”. She explained, “You are under oath, and your beliefs do not make something true.”.
As a result of Jones’ failure to turn over documents requested by the Sandy Hook families, the judge in her default judgment in September admonished him publicly for his actions.
A Connecticut court issued a similar default judgment against Jones in a separate lawsuit that was brought by other Sandy Hook parents for the same reasons.
There is a great deal at stake in this trial in terms of how much Jones will have to pay.
In order to compensate the parents for defamation of character and intentional infliction of emotional distress, they have asked the jury to award $150 million.
It will then be up to the jury to decide whether Jones and his company will be required to pay punitive damages.
There has already been an attempt by Jones to protect the financial interests of Free Speech Systems. Last week, the company filed for federal bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code.
Families of the Sandy Hook victims have filed their own lawsuits against Jones over his financial claims, arguing that the company is trying to protect millions of dollars owned by Jones and his family by creating shell companies.
