Alex Jones trial - live: Infowars host testifies on Sandy Hook lies after repeated attacks on judge
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Alex Jones is testifying in his second defamation trial against the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that he branded a hoax.
The Infowars conspiracy theorist’s testimony follows his repeated outbursts outside the courthouse this week, where he called presiding Judge Barbara Bellis “a tyrant”, ranted about the media’s portrayal of developments in his company’s bankruptcy trial and insisted he didn’t lie about the 2012 massacre “on purpose”.
Relatives of two Sandy Hook victims took the stand on Wednesday, telling how they’ve been targeted with vile threats for years as a result of Jones’ egregious claims about the shooting.
The jury was shown multiple videos of Jones making those claims in broadcasts to millions, including when he mocked the parents of victims as “crisis actors” and displayed completely false information about the events of the day.
Jurors also heard how Jones’s audience and revenues grew exponentially following the tragedy.
The jury will decide how much he should pay relatives of eight victims and the FBI agent who responded to the shooting.
Key Points
Judge jokes she’ll call in sick when Alex Jones testifies
Father tells of horrifying harassment sparked by Alex Jones lies
Alex Jones suffers blow in Infowars bankruptcy case
Alex Jones calls judge a ‘tyrant’
Johnny Depp lawyer weighs in on Alex Jones case
15:54 , Oliver O'Connell
The jury is brought in and Alex Jones is called to the witness stand to testify by the plaintiffs’ attorney Chris Mattei.
He is sworn in.
15:53 , Oliver O'Connell
Jones is told about more subjects remain off limits: he cannot say that PQPR Holdings is a separate company from Infowars; that he did not profit from Sandy Hook coverage; that he can’t be held liable because of the bankruptcy; anything about his deplatforming from social media; nor the Texas defamation case.
15:45 , Oliver O'Connell
The technical issues (with the courtroom’s wifi) have been solved, but the jury is yet to be brought back in while plaintiffs’ lawyers bring up another issue before Judge Bellis.
15:22 , Oliver O'Connell
Michel Bryant of Law & Crime notes that there are so many plaintiffs present in the courtroom they have all had to be squashed in behind their counsel to avoid sitting behind Jones.
Courtroom is packed as we wait for AJ testimony. So many plaintiffs that Mattei had to ask them to scrunch over so all are behind plaintiff counsel...not behind AJ table. If you see empty rows behind AJ...that's why.#AlexJonesTrial @LawCrimeNetwork
— Michel Bryant (@TheLegalEdge) September 22, 2022
15:14 , Oliver O'Connell
Before things can even get started, a short recess is called to address technical problems that are prohibiting them from showing any exhibits.
"As fate would have it," - plaintiff attorney tells judge at sidebar that they are having technical difficulties and cannot pull up any exhibits. Judge calls for a break before #AlexJones takes the stand so plaintiffs' side can work on the tech issues. #SandyHook pic.twitter.com/o0iwvS6GoR
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) September 22, 2022
15:12 , Oliver O'Connell
Judge Bellis explains that the attorneys can’t ask Jones about settlements against Wolfgang Halbig, a second Sandy Hook truther, and the Soto v Bushmaster settlement, as well as the “maximum amount” of Sandy Hook coverage that was on Infowars, which they can’t prove. Jones is also asked not to grandstand about the First Amendment.
Jones says he understands the parameters and that those subjects will not come up “as long as they don’t ask those questions”.
Day seven: Alex Jones will testify this morning
15:07 , Oliver O'Connell
Alex Jones is seated with his legal team in the courtroom and Judge Barbara Bellis has entered the room and taken her seat.
Judge is on the bench. #AlexJones sits at defense table. pic.twitter.com/fm55WL2qID
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) September 22, 2022
This is day seven of the trial and he is set to take the stand at some point today. His lawyer, Norm Pattis had some thoughts this morning about how the day might go, tweeting: “Should be an interesting day. Watch social media explode today with hateful coverage of Alex Jones’ testimony. There is no mob quite so terrifying as a self-righteous mob. We love to hate the man we accuse of hating.”
Should be an interesting day. Watch social media explode today with hateful coverage of Alex Jones’ testimony. There is no mob quite so terrifying as a self-righteous mob. We love to hate the man we accuse of hating.
— norm_pattis (@PattisNorm) September 22, 2022
Outside of the courthouse, Jones said he might be “forced” to plead the fifth.
Jones answers affirmatively that the judge should go over what topics are not allowed to be covered.
Waiting to see if the judge wasn’t kidding...
14:45 , Oliver O'Connell
The judge in Alex Jones’s Sandy Hook defamation trial has joked that she’s going to “call in sick” when the far-right conspiracy theorist takes the stand.
The hilarious exchange unfolded in a court in Connecticut on Wednesday during a sidebar between Judge Barbara Bellis and Mr Jones’s attorney Norm Pattis.
Alex Jones judge jokes she’ll ‘call in sick’ when he testifies in Sandy Hook case
Alex Jones suffers blow in Infowars bankruptcy case
14:15 , Oliver O'Connell
The parent company of Alex Jones’ Infowars suffered a substantial blow in bankruptcy court as a judge blocked an attorney and a restructuring executive from overseeing the case due to “lack of transparency” on financial information, including about the conspiracy theorist’s extravagant spending habits.
US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston ordered new personnel to replace Marc Schwartz, chief restructuring officer of Infowars parent company Free Speech Systems LLC, and attorney Kyung Lee in the case on Tuesday, citing conflict of interest.
The judge found that Mr Schwartz and Mr Lee failed to disclose that they sought work from Free Speech Systems (FFS) before the conclusion of earlier Infowars bankruptcies.
Read more:
Alex Jones suffers blow in Infowars bankruptcy case amid Sandy Hook trial
Sandy Hook father tells of horrifying harassment sparked by Alex Jones lies
13:36 , Megan Sheets
The father of a six-year-old Sandy Hook victim took the witness stand on Wednesday and told how a stranger showed up at his home demanding proof that his son was dead as a result of Alex Jones’ lies about the shooting.
David Wheeler said he found out about Jones’s bogus theories through a family friend, according to Insider.
He realised the power of those theories soon after.
“Someone came to the house and knocked on the door. The person demanded to see Ben, saying ‘I know he’s here, I know he’s alive,’” Mr Wheeler said. “I felt like I was underwater. I didn’t know which way was up. To have someone publicly telling the world that it didn’t happen, that you’re a fraud and a phoney is incredibly disorienting.”
The Independent’s Andrea Blanco has more:
Alex Jones’ lies led strangers to demand parents prove six-year-old child was dead
Alex Jones mocks Sandy Hook parents and calls them ‘crisis actors’
13:30 , Oliver O'Connell
The jury in the second defamation trial of Alex Jones has been shown a video of the Infowars host mocking the parents of Sandy Hook victims.
Footage shows the conspiracy theorist referring to parents as “crisis actors” and accusing them of “method acting”.
“It’s just the fakest thing since the $3 bill,” Jones says.
During the trial, the jury was also shown how Infowars’ audience - and company revenues - grew exponentially following the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Alex Jones mocks Sandy Hook parents and calls them ‘actors’ in video shown to jury
Infowars lawyer: Bitcoin donations to Infowars go to Alex Jones
12:30 , Oliver O'Connell
On day two day of the second Sandy Hook defamation trial against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, a corporate representative for his company testified that cryptocurrency donations solicited during his show go directly to Mr Jones personally.
Bitcoin donations to Infowars go to Alex Jones, company rep testifies
‘There were false statements’ on Sandy Hook, says Infowars lawyer
11:30 , Oliver O'Connell
A lawyer for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones‘ Infowars empire acknowledged on the witness stand Wednesday that the show and website spread falsehoods about the Sandy Hook school shooting.
“I don’t think that we disagree that there were false statements made,” Brittany Paz testified at a civil trial involving Jones’ claims that the nation’s deadliest school shooting was a hoax concocted as a pretext to tighten gun regulations.
Read more:
Infowars lawyer: 'There were false statements' on Sandy Hook
Jones’s audience grew exponentially after Sandy Hook massacre, rep says
10:30 , Oliver O'Connell
A representative for Free Speech Systems, the parent company of InfoWars, told a courtroom that Alex Jones’s audience grew “exponentially” after the Sandy Hook massacre.
The right-wing conspiracy theorist is facing trial in his second defamation case brought by the family of a victim for his claims that the elementary school shooting was a “hoax.”
Brittany Paz testified that the growth seen since 2012 has led to “billions” of social media impressions, coinciding with the date of the shooting.
InfoWars rep says Alex Jones’s audience grew exponentially after Sandy Hook massacre
09:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Sandy Hook trial judge jokes she’ll ‘call in sick’ when Infowars host testifies
08:30 , Oliver O'Connell
The judge in Alex Jones’s Sandy Hook defamation trial has joked that she’s going to “call in sick” when the far-right conspiracy theorist takes the stand.
The hilarious exchange unfolded in a court in Connecticut on Wednesday during a sidebar between Judge Barbara Bellis and Mr Jones’s attorney Norm Pattis.
Rachel Sharp has the story.
Alex Jones judge jokes she’ll ‘call in sick’ when he testifies in Sandy Hook case
Watch: Victim’s mother says she wasn’t supposed to be in school that day
07:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Avielle wasn't supposed to be in school that day. They were going to see the Rockettes, but she had an activity in the morning at school she wanted to do. Her mother chokes up on the stand when she recalls blowing a kiss to her. #SandyHook pic.twitter.com/4RWcRpL6C6
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) September 21, 2022
Johnny Depp’s lawyer weighs in on Alex Jones’s latest Sandy Hook defamation trial
06:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Johnny Depp’s attorney has weighed in on Alex Jones’s latest defamation trial over the Sandy Hook massacre, saying that “lies are not protected” by the First Amendment.
Benjamin Chew appeared on Law & Crime on Tuesday to speak about the case currently playing out in a courtroom in Connecticut, where jurors will decide how much in damages the far-right conspiracy theorist must pay to families of victims of the 2012 mass shooting.
Mr Chew, who was one of the lead members of Mr Depp’s legal team during his successful defamation case against Amber Heard, pointed out that the courtroom is “a very different environment” to the extremist’s conspiracy show Infowars when it comes to being able to spread “heinous lies”.
Rachel Sharp reports.
Johnny Depp’s lawyer weighs in on Alex Jones’s Sandy Hook defamation trial
Watch: Victim’s daughter received death and rape threats
04:30 , Oliver O'Connell
"I'm not going to have it": Judge Barbara Bellis threatened to hold both the plaintiffs' attorneys and #AlexJones' attorneys in contempt of court if they don't stop the comments to each other in front of the jury. pic.twitter.com/m7PY1j8nui
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 21, 2022
ICYMI: Witness questioned about Jones criticism of Sandy Hook trial
03:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who is on trial in Connecticut for calling the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre a hoax, continued Friday to describe the proceedings as a “kangaroo court” from his Infowars studio in Texas.
Jones’ commentary became a focus of testimony on the fourth day of the trial, with a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families questioning a corporate representative for Jones’ Infowars brand about how seriously the company was taking the trial.
Read more:
Witness questioned about Jones criticism of Sandy Hook trial
Watch: Judge threatens both attorneys with contempt of court over sniping at each other
02:30 , Oliver O'Connell
"I'm not going to have it": Judge Barbara Bellis threatened to hold both the plaintiffs' attorneys and #AlexJones' attorneys in contempt of court if they don't stop the comments to each other in front of the jury. pic.twitter.com/m7PY1j8nui
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 21, 2022
Judge prepares for Alex Jones to take stand
01:30 , Oliver O'Connell
The judge overseeing the Connecticut trial of Alex Jones said Wednesday she is prepared to handle any incendiary testimony from the Infowars host when he is called to the stand this week in a defamation lawsuit filed by people who lost relatives in the Sandy Hook school massacre.
Judge Barbara Bellis last year found Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, liable for spreading the lie that the 2012 elementary school shooting was a hoax. Her decision came as a result of the conspiracy theorist failing to turn over documents in the case.
Jones on Tuesday called Bellis a tyrant and said she would be forcing him to perjure himself and say “that I’m guilty and to say that I’m a liar.”
Read more:
Judge prepares for Alex Jones to take stand in Connecticut
Watch: Jones talks about developments in bankruptcy case
Thursday 22 September 2022 00:30 , Oliver O'Connell
#AlexJones addressed his Infowars bankruptcy case after a U.S. bankruptcy judge barred an attorney and manager from the case over conflicts. "The media spun some changes in our bankruptcy procedures as some big, huge, evil, bad thing. It wasn't," Jones said to the media. pic.twitter.com/UjGFKM18LN
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) September 21, 2022
Alex Jones suffers blow in Infowars bankruptcy
Wednesday 21 September 2022 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell
The parent company of Alex Jones’ Infowars suffered a substantial blow in bankruptcy court as a judge blocked an attorney and a restructuring executive from overseeing the case due to “lack of transparency” on financial information, including about the conspiracy theorist’s extravagant spending habits.
Megan Sheets reports.
Alex Jones suffers blow in Infowars bankruptcy case amid Sandy Hook trial
Alex Jones calls Sandy Hook trial judge a ‘tyrant’
Wednesday 21 September 2022 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Alex Jones launched into a furious rant as his Sandy Hook damages case resumed, calling the judge a “tyrant” and insisting he didn’t broadcast lies about the mass shooting “on purpose”.
Outside the court on Tuesday, Mr Jones told reporters: “This is a travesty of justice and this judge is a tyrant. This judge is ordering me to say that I’m guilty and to say that I’m a liar. None of that’s true. I was not wrong about Sandy Hook on purpose.”
Alex Jones calls judge a ‘tyrant’ as Sandy Hook trial resumes
Wednesday 21 September 2022 21:27 , Oliver O'Connell
Court adjourns for the day.
Alex Jones is expected to testify tomorrow.
Alex Jones will be in court tomorrow...to which the judge jokes, "I'm calling in sick."#AlexJones #SandyHook pic.twitter.com/D0RygKfPmZ
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) September 21, 2022
Video deposition: Robert Jacobson
Wednesday 21 September 2022 21:26 , Oliver O'Connell
The court is now seeing a video deposition from Robert Jacobson who previously worked at Infowars for Alex Jones.
Mr Jacobson was subpoenaed and tells plaintiffs’ lawyers that he would have testified without one.
He wanted people to know that Jones and his writers were not doing legitimate journalism and there were repercussions in the form of what happened to the Sandy Hook families.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 21:21 , Oliver O'Connell
Ms Henshell tells the jury that she and her late husband had two more children both under the age of ten and she will one day have to explain everything about this to them.
She has to scan for danger alone and it is all on her.
There is no cross-examination at the end of her testimony.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 21:17 , Oliver O'Connell
In the sidebar, it is agreed to clarify any questions regarding the suicide, that Ms Henshell is not claiming Jones caused her husband’s suicide.
Hensel testifies that they were looking at Avielle's grave marker, looking for evidence that Jeremy died; she does not have a grave marker for him yet. Conspiracy theorists claimed this was proof and "tied into the general overall narrative of the hoax" Hensel says.
— Anna Merlan (@annamerlan) September 21, 2022
Sandy Hook trial judge jokes she’ll ‘call in sick’ when Infowars host testifies
Wednesday 21 September 2022 21:10 , Oliver O'Connell
The judge in Alex Jones’s Sandy Hook defamation trial has joked that she’s going to “call in sick” when the far-right conspiracy theorist takes the stand to testify.
The hilarious exchange unfolded in a court in Connecticut on Wednesday during a sidebar between Judge Barbara Bellis and Mr Jones’s attorney Norm Pattis.
Rachel Sharp reports.
Alex Jones judge jokes she’ll ‘call in sick’ when he testifies in Sandy Hook case
Wednesday 21 September 2022 21:10 , Oliver O'Connell
When her husband died by suicide in 2019, his death became part of the wider conspiracy theory.
As she begins to explain she was told that people were in the cemetery looking for his grave, there is an objection from the defence team and a side bar.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 21:08 , Oliver O'Connell
Ms Hensel recalled another girl in Sandy Hook who looked like Avielle and was her reading partner, but was a few years older.
After her daughter died, the other girl was included in the hoax claims that Avielle was still alive and was one of the children who sang at the Super Bowl as part of the Sandy Hook choir.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 20:58 , Oliver O'Connell
The Hensels launched a foundation dedicated to neuroscience, studying “what causes somebody to be violent, and what protects somebody from becoming violent.”
Studying the biology of violence was a novel idea at the time and the couple worked on it together.
Initially, they received a great deal of support, but they were also accused of being fraudsters trying to fleece the American public in some emails.
They then received messages saying their daughter was alive. Then that she never existed and that they were actors.
The couple tried to ignore it.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 20:52 , Oliver O'Connell
After that day she remember the many funerals as she lived near the main highway in the town and could see the cars and processions going by.
Ms Hensel says she’d heard from other families who had their children’s funeral first that the “media was relentless” and that people showed up who thought it was a hoax.
“We did our best not to publicly state” where or when the funeral was, she says.
In January of 2013, they found out more about the hoax but didn’t realise they were part of it.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 20:50 , Oliver O'Connell
Ms Hensel talks about meeting her husband, their marriage, and having Avielle come into their lives.
On the day of the tragedy at Sandy Hook, they were going to keep her home from school and take her to see the Rockettes. She went in for the morning as there was an activity at school that morning.
Witness: Jennifer Hensel
Wednesday 21 September 2022 20:35 , Oliver O'Connell
Jennifer Hensel is now testifying. She is the mother of Avielle Richman, who died at Sandy Hook.
Her husband, Jeremy Richman, died by suicide in 2019.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 20:33 , Oliver O'Connell
Judge Bellis reiterates her strong desire to have this case not be about politics and specifically calls out Jones’s defence team for trying to turn it into that.
There is another sidebar: “My neck hurts from turning to the left so much,” Judge Bellis says.
It transpires that we will have one more witness today and it sounds like Jones will take the stand tomorrow.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 20:02 , Oliver O'Connell
There is a lot of sniping between the lawyers after they both play a clip from the same Alex Jones broadcast. Judge Bellis threatens both of them with a contempt charge if they continue to bicker in her courtroom.
After a quick-fire round of questioning in which Ms Lafferty reiterates that she does not know Jones’s views on a number of topics because she has not watched or read any of the content he has produced, she is asked why the case was brought.
She says: “This case has been brought because there were lies about me and my family and they would not stop.”
Her testimony concludes and the court goes on its afternoon break.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 19:49 , Oliver O'Connell
Cross-examination by Attorney Pattis is underway.
Ms Lafferty testifies that her mother’s death shaped her views on gun control and she now works for Everytown for Gun Safety, an anti-gun violence group.
Following a slew of questions relating to whether Jones had ever mentioned her name and how many people are suing Jones, there is a sidebar after successful objections from plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 19:43 , Oliver O'Connell
There are confrontations in person too. At a gas station, someone once pointed at her and said “you’re part of that Sandy Hook hoax.”
A similar encounter happened at a grocery store. She has moved six times so that people would not know who she was. She also travels under an assumed name and when she uses a rideshare service.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 19:40 , Oliver O'Connell
Ms Lafferty had a Facebook page for a scholarship fund in memory of her mother, but she had to shut it down because people kept commenting that Sandy Hook never happened, her mom was not real, and accused her of scamming people.
She tried to confront people online, but there were so many of them and she couldn’t stop the harassment.
Wednesday 21 September 2022 19:38 , Oliver O'Connell
Ms Lafferty is questioned as to how she came to know about the conspiracy theories regarding the tragedy at Sandy Hook.
She says that within weeks of the shooting she would be tagged on social media to posts claiming it was all a conspiracy.
Later things got worse and things would be mailed to her house and there were threats of rape. When she attempted to get help from the police, she was told the threats were not specific enough to be tracked, or the posts would be deleted.
At one point someone sent her an Infowars video which she later learned was of Alex Jones.
There was also mail from a bogus address in California referencing AR-15 with “fifteen” misspelled.
She recalls that the letters said: “I should die and be buried next to my fake dead mother,” Ms Lafferty says, adding dryly: “However that’s possible.”