A month after losing a nearly $50 million verdict, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will face a second trial for calling the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy a fabrication and causing emotional and psychological trauma to several of the victims’ families.
In Connecticut, a six-person jury with several alternates will begin hearing testimony on how much Jones should pay the families on Tuesday, given that he has already been found guilty for their damages. The experiment will likely last approximately four weeks.
A Texas jury ordered Jones to pay $49.3 million to the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who was one of 26 students and instructors murdered in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut school shooting. According to Jones’ attorney, an appeal is anticipated.
Due to the consolidation of three claims filed by 15 plaintiffs, including the family of eight of the victims and a former FBI agent who reacted to the school shooting, the Connecticut case has the potential for a greater judgment.
Jones, who operates his web program and Infowars brand from Austin, Texas, is also facing a third trial over the phony conspiracy in a lawsuit filed by Sandy Hook parents.
Free Speech Systems, the parent business of Infowars, which has filed for bankruptcy protection, is also a defendant.
Alex Jones, host of a far-right US radio program, addresses demonstrators in Washington, D.C., on December 12, 2020, who support then-President Donald Trump. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP sourced from Getty Images
Why are the relatives of Sandy Hook suing Jones?
The family and retired FBI agent William Aldenberg claim that Jones’ supporters have contacted and harassed them in person because of the phony plot. In addition, they report receiving death threats and harsh remarks on social media.
Some of the claimants allege that they and their surviving children were filmed by outsiders. And other families have left Newtown to avoid harassment and threats.
During the Texas trial, Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, testified, “I can’t even express the last nine and a half years, the living hell that I and others have had to experience because of the recklessness and negligence of Alex Jones.”
The case filed in Connecticut asserts defamation, intentional infliction of mental distress, and violations of the state Unfair Trade Practices Act. The families argue that when Jones discussed Sandy Hook, his viewership grew and he made more money selling supplements, apparel, and other products.
The families have not requested a precise sum of damages, which may be limited in part by state rules. However, there are no damage caps under the Unfair Trade Practices Act.
In all of the Connecticut and Texas instances, Jones and his attorneys continually neglected to provide the families’ attorneys with the essential documents. In reaction, the judges imposed one of the toughest penalties in civil law, holding Jones accountable for damages by default and without a trial.
What is Alex Jones’s position?
In contrast to what he stated on his show in the years following the incident, Jones now asserts that the massacre occurred. However, he maintains that his statements regarding the shooting being a hoax perpetrated by crisis actors in order to promote gun control initiatives were protected by free speech rights.
In April, during a deposition in the case, a stubborn Jones claimed he was not responsible for the anguish Sandy Hook parents claim he caused with his statements.
He has also asserted that the judges’ default judgements against him — finding him accountable without hearings — were unjust and part of a plot to put him out of business and silence him.
During the deposition, he stated, “We are no longer in America if questioning public events and free speech are prohibited because they may offend someone’s sentiments.” They can change the channel or come out and say I’m wrong because they have the right to free expression.
Jones said at the Texas trial that he now understands that what he said was reckless and did harm people’s feelings, and he apologized.
What is anticipated during the trial?
The trial will be presided over by the judge who held Jones responsible for damages, Barbara Bellis. She is the same judge who supervised the lawsuit brought by the Sandy Hook families against Remington, the manufacturer of the Bushmaster rifle used in the school shooting. In February, Remington agreed to pay $73 million to resolve the claim.
The trial is anticipated to be similar to the one in Texas, with families of the victims testifying about the grief and sorrow caused by the hoax plot and medical specialists addressing questions regarding the relatives’ mental health and diagnoses.
Jones will also testify, according to his attorney, Norman Pattis.
“He is eager to put this trial behind him; it has been a costly and time-consuming distraction,” Pattis wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
The jury is also expecting to hear testimony regarding Jones’ financial situation.
Jones said at the Texas trial that any award above $2 million would “sink us,” and he begged the viewers of his web program to purchase his stuff to help him remain on the air and fight the cases.
However, according to the testimony of an economist, Jones and his company were valued up to $270 million. Jones faces a second lawsuit in Texas on allegations that he hid assets worth millions of dollars when families of Sandy Hook victims began to sue him.