Sandy Hooks shooting denier Alex Jones has finally admitted that the deadliest school massacre in American history was not a hoax 10 years after the utter grief of the victims’ parents.
The Infowars host sweated in his seat at the trial after he declared the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre a hoax and now believes it was ‘100% real’.
Hours after 26 people were shot dead at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, Jones began falsely claiming that the murders had not happened.
And now more than 10 years later, the conspiracy theorists’ comments are catching up with him as he is finally going to be held accountable in court today after his sensational admission.
A 12-person jury will now decide how much to owe the devastated victim’s parents for the damage and loss his lies have caused them over a decade.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones finally adds up: After lying about Sandy Hooks, America’s deadliest school, he admitted at trial today that it was ‘100% real’ after almost a decade of untold stress on the victims’ families.
Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, becomes emotional during his testimony in the case against Alex Jones
Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, tells Alex Jones, ‘You’re not going to stop,’ as she testifies in court at the Travis County Courthouse during Jones’ trial.
After the school shooting of 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza, Jones began telling people through his radio show and website that the murders never happened — and that, in some cases, the grieving children didn’t exist.
He claimed the fatal shooting was ‘staged’ and ‘completely fake’, which was described as a ‘huge hoax’ by the ‘actors’.
Jones claimed that Sandy Hooks was an ‘operation’ engineered by the government to take away Second Amendment rights and promote stricter gun control laws.
At a hearing this week, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Heslin, one of the 26 people killed in the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, said apologies won’t stop.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis said Jones needs to be held accountable for repeatedly spreading lies about the shooting and are seeking at least $150 million in a defamation lawsuit against Jones and his media company, Free Speech Systems.
Devastated parents spoke of online abuse attacks, harassment, and death threats as Jones described the massacre as a hoax on social media.
After Jones’ horrific lie, memorials to the victims were defaced and many families moved from the area to get away from the pain.
Jones has claimed that the trial is a way for others to attack his freedom of speech. Pictured: Jones arrived at a Texas court for her defamation trial on Tuesday with a piece of tape over her mouth that read ‘Save the First Amendment’.
Jesse’s mother, Scarlett Lewis (above), said she feared for her life and confronted Jones on the stand because he said she was not an actor.
Jones – who has characterized the case against him as an attack on his First Amendment rights – told the jury that any damages above $2 million would ‘sink us’, but added: ‘I think it’s appropriate to decide what you want to do. .’
He previously declared under oath at a defamation hearing that he had no messages on his phone about Sandy Hook — but that’s when he discovered that his team had sent a digital copy of every text and email about the school shooting.
Mark Banston, an attorney acting for the parents of Sandy Hook, revealed that they received the information 12 days ago, years ago.
In a fascinating exchange, Lewis spoke directly to Jones, who was sitting about 10 feet away.
Earlier that day, Jones had been telling his listeners on his broadcast that Heislin was ‘slow’ and being manipulated by bad people.
At one point, Lewis asked Jones: ‘Do you think I’m an actor?’
‘No, I don’t think you’re an actor,’ replied Jones as the judge advised him to remain silent until he was called to testify.
Heslin labeled Jones a ‘psychopath’ and called him a ‘coward’ for missing his father’s testimony – telling the denier that his family lived in constant fear.
Jones was the only person to testify in his own defense. His lawyer asked him if he understood it was ‘absolutely irresponsible’ to push the false claim that there was no massacre and that no one had died.
Jones said, but he added, ‘They (the media) won’t let me take it back.’
He also complained that he has been ‘typecast as someone who talks about Sandy Hook, makes money from Sandy Hook, is obsessed with Sandy Hook.’
Under cross-examination from attorney Mark Bankston, Jones acknowledged his history of raising conspiracy claims about other mass tragedies, from the Oklahoma City and Boston Marathon bombings to mass shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida.
Bankston then went after Jones’ credibility, showing an InfoWars video clip from last week when a host — not Jones — claimed the trial was rigged and featuring a photo of the judge on fire. Then came another clip of Jones saying that the jury had been selected from a group of people who ‘didn’t know’ what planet they lived on.
Jones said he didn’t mean that part literally.
Bankston said Jones did not comply with a court order to provide text messages and emails to gather pretrial evidence.
Jones said, ‘I don’t use email,’ after his email address was shown to have been collected from another source. He replied: ‘I must have given that instruction.’
Jones has repeatedly claimed that the massacre in 2012, which killed 20 students and six teachers, was a ‘hoax’ and ‘staged’.
Six-year-old Jesse is one of the 26 victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. His parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis both testified against Jones at the trial
Judge Maya Guerra Gamble instructed the jury that the entire contents of the phone ‘were not properly returned when it should have been’.
Alex Jones, pictured in court today, admitted the Sandy Hook massacre was ‘100 per cent real’ and was not a hoax during his defamation trial.
Grieving, Heslin also described to the jury the damage to his son’s body after holding him by shooting him in the head. A key segment of the case is a 2017 InfoWars broadcast that said Heslin did not hold her son.
The jury was shown a school picture of a smiling Jessie taken two weeks before her murder. The parents did not receive the photos after the shooting.
They described how Jessie was known to her classmates as ‘the run’! Which probably saved lives.
Jones initially took the stand later Tuesday. At one point the judge sent the jury out of the courtroom and reprimanded Jones after he told the jury that he had complied with the pretrial evidence gathering and that he was bankrupt, which has not been determined.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys were furious about the mention of Jones being bankrupt, which they worry could taint the jury’s decision about damages.
“This is not your show,” judge Maya Guerra Gamble told Jones. ‘Your belief does not make anything true. You are under oath.’
Last September, the judge admonished Jones for failing to turn over documents requested by the Sandy Hook families in his default judgment.
A Connecticut court issued a similar default judgment against Jones for similar reasons in a separate lawsuit brought by other Sandy Hook parents.
At trial is how much Jones will pay. The parents have asked the jury to award $150 million in damages for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
A jury will then consider whether Jones and his company should pay punitive damages.
Jones has already tried to financially protect the free speech system. The company, which is the parent company of Infowars, filed for federal bankruptcy protection last week.
The families of Sandy Hook have separately sued Jones over his financial claims, arguing that the company is trying to secure millions owned by Jones and his family through shell entities.