Topline
On his controversial Infowars radio show Tuesday, Alex Jones described as “demonically possessed” the judge and legal team he’s facing in a trial this week to set the damages he owes to parents of students killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre after already losing defamation trials.
Alex Jones accused the judge and prosecution in the Sandy Hook defamation trial of being … [+]
Key Facts
Parents are seeking $150 million from Jones, who has already been found liable in courts in Connecticut and Texas (where his media company Free Speech Systems is based), for defamation following false statements that the school shooting was a hoax, the aggrieved parents were liars, and the students were paid actors hired by Democrats to push gun-control measures.
Jones, who was expected to testify Tuesday afternoon as the only witness for the defense, has argued repeatedly the trial is an affront to his First Amendment rights— he arrived at the courthouse with a piece of duct tape covering his mouth, reading “Save the 1st.”
In testimony Tuesday, Neil Heslin, one of the parents suing Jones and the father of a six-year-old student who was among the 28 killed in the massacre, said Jones has made his life a “living hell,” saying, “Alex started this fight and I’ll finish this fight,” ABC News reported.
“They all act demonically possessed: The judge, the lawyers,” Jones said Tuesday, calling them “people … committed to a cult ideology of the new world order.”
Key Background
Family members of 10 children killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, in Newtown Conn., filed four different lawsuits against Jones and his media site Free Speech Systems, accusing Jones of promoting conspiracy theories about the death of their children on his show. He lost all four suits. Now he faces three jury trials to set how much he will owe in damages. Jones has offered to pay $120,000 per plaintiff to settle the case. The families, who argue they’ve faced harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers, turned him down. In this first trial, set in Jones’ hometown of Austin, parents are seeking $150 million.
Tangent
Jones continues to host Infowars, even as its media company Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy Saturday, and three months after the Infowars site also filed for bankruptcy in the wake of the legal battle.
Further Reading
Alex Jones’ Trial To Determine Sandy Hook Damages Delayed After Infowars Bankruptcy (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/08/02/alex-jones-calls-sandy-hook-trial-judge-demonically-possessed-just-before-hes-set-to-testify/