Alex Jones trial - live: Kyrie Irving posts ‘New World Order’ video as jury sees more Sandy Hook conspiracies

The second defamation trial of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is underway in Connecticut as he faces the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that he claimed was a hoax in broadcasts to his millions of viewers.

For two days the court has been hearing from an appointed representative of Jones’s media company, Brittany Paz, about its operations, though much of her testimony has been evasive. The jury was shown how Infowars’ audience grew exponentially following the tragedy and company revenues increased dramatically.

Multiple videos have been shown of Jones’ egregious claims about the shooting, including when he mocked the parents of victims as “crisis actors” and displayed completely false information about the events of the day.

Earlier, the sister of one of the teachers killed, and an FBI agent described being fearful of response to the unfounded theories by fans of Jones.

Last month he was ordered to pay nearly $50m to the parents of one of the slain children by a Texas jury following a similar lawsuit. Now, jurors will decide how much he should pay relatives of eight victims and the FBI agent who responded to the scene of the 2012 massacre.

Key Points

• Sandy Hook families warn 'bully' Alex Jones will 'never stop' unless he's held responsible

• Alex Jones and Infowars sanctioned just minutes into second damages trial

• Alex Jones claims he sold more copies of his new book than ‘any Harry Potter’

• Infowars company rep testifies audience increased exponentially after Sandy Hook

• NBA star Kyrie Irving posts unhinged Alex Jones clip from 2002

15:54 , Oliver O'Connell

The court is being shown more videos from Infowars, including various conspiracies about CNN’s coverage (Anderson Cooper’s nose disappearing during a green screen shot) and Infowars host Owen Shroyer claiming that Sandy Hook parent Neil Heslin didn’t hold his dead son.

Mr Shroyer testified in the Texas trial and admitted that he didn’t fact-check the claim. Ms Paz admits she did not speak to him in her preparation for the current trial, despite being the company’s corporate rep. She is then unable to say how many on-air hosts Infowars has. Earlier she couldn’t say how many studios the company operates.

NBA star Kyrie Irving posts unhinged Alex Jones clip from 2002

15:49 , Oliver O'Connell

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving shared a 2002 video of Alex Jones decrying a “New World Order” to his Instagram story on Thursday, The New York Post reports.

“There is tyrannical organization calling itself the ‘New World Order,’ pushing for worldwide government,” Jones says in the clip. “A cashless society. Total and complete tyranny. By centralizing and socializing healthcare, the state becomes god, basically, when it comes to your health. And by releasing diseases and viruses and plagues up on us, we basically get shoved into their system where human beings are absolutely worthless.”

In 2018 Irving made headlines by saying that the earth is flat. He later apologised for the claim.

15:28 , Oliver O'Connell

The jury is brought in and Ms Paz is back on the witness stand as the appointed corporate representative for Free Speech Systems and Infowars.

Mr Mattei returns to asking her about Alex Jones’s video titled “Final Statement On Sandy Hook” and how it wasn’t his final statement.

Jones published another video after that titled “Sandy Hook Vampires Exposed”.

15:18 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Mattei doesn’t want Ms Paz to be able to present any hearsay testimony that maybe a normal corporate representative could.

Defence attorney Norm Pattis responds that corporate reps are akin to experts and she should be able to speak as if giving the company’s opinion as she has already in direct exmaination.

Judge Bellis rules that Ms Paz can testify as to her personal knowledge, but if she is basing anything off of inadmissible hearsay then that obviously does not come in.

The points that Mr Mattei got in earlier in direct examination when asking Free Speech Systems’ positions on particular issues were admissions and therefore do not count as hearsay.

Day 4 - Court resumes with pre-trial motion regarding cross-examination of Brittany Paz

15:13 , Oliver O'Connell

Court has resumed and Judge Barbara Bellis is hearing a pre-trial motion raised by plaintiffs’ lawyer Chris Mattei.

The testimony of Brittany Paz, appointed corporate representative for Infowars/Free Speech Systems, will finish this morning. Mr Mattei is asking that the cross-examination by defence should be limited.

“Free Speech Systems as a defendant could have presented a corporate representative who knew anything,” Mr Mattei says, “and it appears based on her testimony that they lied to her about Google analytics.”

He argues they presented her for “strategic reasons”.

In midst of trial on Thursday, Alex Jones’s lawyer appeared to tweet and fall asleep

14:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Jones’s lawyer appeared to tweet and fall asleep this week during the right-wing conspiracy broadcaster’s ongoing damages trial in Connecticut.

Mr Jones is notably on trial for making false claims about the Sandy Hook school massacre in 2012.

Josh Marcus reports.

Alex Jones lawyer appears to tweet and fall asleep during Connecticut trial

Alex Jones claims his new book outsold Harry Potter

14:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Far-right media personality Alex Jones has claimed in an interview that his latest book has outsold all of the books in the Harry Potter franchise.

Jones, who is currently the subject of a second defamation trial over his Sandy Hook hoax allegations, made the claims about The Great Reset on the programme Louder with Crowder.

He provided no evidence to back his claim but asserted that runaway sales of the book are being suppressed by a publishing industry conspiracy.

Abe Asher reports on Jones’s claims.

Alex Jones claims his new book has sold more copies than ‘any Harry Potter’

Bitcoin donations to Infowars go to Alex Jones, says rep

13:30 , 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.

“He doesn’t tell anybody where it goes or what he does with it,” Brittany Paz testified.

Bitcoin donations to Infowars go to Alex Jones, company rep testifies

Flashback: Mother of Sandy Hook victim says she felt compassion for ‘lonely’ Alex Jones

12:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The mother of one of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has described feeling compassion for Alex Jones when she met him face to face for the first time at her defamation trial against him.

Scarlett Lewis, the mother of six-year-old Jesse Lewis who was killed in the shooting, said she looked into Jones’ eyes and was “so nervous” that her hand had started to shake.

“But then I looked into Alex Jones’ eyes who was sitting right in front of me [and] I could only feel compassion for him,” she told CBS This Morning.

Shweta Sharma reported on the interview after the first defamation trial.

Mother of Sandy Hook victim says she felt compassion for ‘lonely’ Alex Jones

Alex Jones claims ‘Deep State’ will stage mass shootings to steal midterms

11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has absurdly warned that leftist “Deep State” globalists are plotting to stage false flag violent events to win the midterm elections for Democrats - just weeks after he publicly admitted to making false claims about the Sandy Hook massacre being a hoax.

Speaking on his Infowars show, Mr Jones asserted that the “Deep State” would blame staged violence on far-right groups in an effort to take over the country in the run-up to the midterm elections.

Read more:

Alex Jones absurdly claims ‘Deep State’ will stage mass shootings to steal midterms

In unhinged rant, Alex Jones sarcastically claims he killed Sandy Hook victims

10:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Infowars host Alex Jones sarcastically claimed he killed Sandy Hook victims in an unhinged rant about the $50m defamation verdict that a Texas jury made against him.

Jones made the inflammatory comments, his first since losing a defamation case brought by the family of one of the school children murdered in the mass shooting, during an interview with YouTube journalist Andrew Callaghan.

In the interview, a seemingly frustrated Jones responded to a question about the shooting by claiming personal responsibility for the deaths of the 20 children and six adults killed in the 2012 massacre in Connecticut.

Graeme Massie reports.

Alex Jones sarcastically claims he killed Sandy Hook victims in unhinged rant

ICYMI: Infowars sanctioned just minutes into second damages trial

09:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Jones and Infowars were sanctioned just minutes into the second damages trial over his false claims about the Sandy Hook school shooting.

The trial started on Tuesday in Connecticut, where the shooting took place almost a decade ago on 14 December 2012.

Judge Barbara Bellis issued a ruling that Mr Jones and Infowars will not be allowed to argue that they didn’t make considerable profits from covering the shooting because they didn’t hand over Google Analytics data concerning the traffic of Infowars to the plaintiffs, Vice reported.

Read more:

Alex Jones sanctioned minutes into damages trial over Sandy Hook claims

Why is Alex Jones on trial again over his Sandy Hook hoax conspiracy?

08:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Conspiracy theorist and conservative radio host Alex Jones is back in court a month after a judge ordered he pay nearly $50m for damages caused by his insistence that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax.

Jones has already been found liable for causing emotional and psychological harm to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. Following the attack, he made numerous claims suggesting the shooting was a hoax intended to help justify a government-led confiscation of Americans’ guns.

Here’s what the new trial is about:

Why Alex Jones is headed to trial again over his Sandy Hook conspiracy theories

Sister of Sandy Hook victim says family ‘feared for lives’ after hoax claims

06:15 , Oliver O'Connell

The sister of a teacher who died during the Sandy Hook massacre broke down in tears as she testified that her family “feared for our lives” after Alex Jones branded the shooting a hoax.

Carlee Soto-Parisi told the court that her family was threatened and harassed as Jones made wild allegations about false-flag operations and paid crisis actors in the wake of the 2012 elementary school shooting.

Ms Soto-Parisi’s 27-year-old sister, Vicki Soto, was murdered by gunman Adam Lanza when he attacked the school, killing 26 children and teachers.

Graeme Massie watched her testimony.

Sister of Sandy Hook teacher says family ‘feared for lives’ after Alex Jones claims

Alex Jones accused of hiding millions to avoid Sandy Hook payout

04:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Jones has been accused of hiding millions of dollars in an attempt to avoid paying damages to the families of victims of the Sandy Hook massacre who were terrorised for years because of his lies.

The families of nine victims killed in the 2012 mass shooting filed new court documents on Thursday alleging that the far-right conspiracy theorist “systematically transferred millions of dollars” to himself, his relatives and companies that he owns – all the while claiming he was bankrupt and unable to pay his debts.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Alex Jones accused of hiding millions of dollars to avoid paying Sandy Hook families

Sandy Hook families: ‘Bully’ Alex Jones will ‘never stop’ unless held responsible

02:45 , Oliver O'Connell

A lawyer representing eight families who lost family members in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre tore into Infowars founder Alex Jones as the second damages trial against him began in Connecticut.

“Unless you stand up to bullies, a bully will never stop,” Chris Mattei said during opening statements on Tuesday, according to Law & Crime.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Sandy Hook families blast ‘bully’ Alex Jones as damages trial begins

‘There were false statements’ on Sandy Hook, Infowars lawyer admits

01:30 , 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.

Infowars lawyer: 'There were false statements' on Sandy Hook

Compay rep says Infowars audience grew exponentially after Sandy Hook massacre

Friday 16 September 2022 00:30 , 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

Infowars saw sales soar after first Sandy Hook defamation trial

Thursday 15 September 2022 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Jones’ Infowars saw sales soar after his Sandy Hook defamation trial, where he was ordered to pay almost $50m in damages to the parents of a child murdered in the mass shooting after he spread lies about the massacre being “a hoax”.

Rachel Sharp reported for The Independent.

Alex Jones’ Infowars sees sales soar since Sandy Hook defamation trial

Flashback: John Oliver eviscerates Alex Jones over Sandy Hook defamation trial

Thursday 15 September 2022 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell

John Oliver took aim at conspiracy theorist Alex Jones during an episode of Last Week Tonight immediately after the verdict in the first defamation trial the founder of Infowars endured.

Tom Murray reports on what Oliver said.

John Oliver eviscerates Alex Jones over Sandy Hook defamation trial

Alex Jones mocks Sandy Hook parents and calls them ‘crisis actors’

Thursday 15 September 2022 22:00 , 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.

Alex Jones mocks Sandy Hook parents and calls them ‘actors’ in video shown to jury

Thursday 15 September 2022 21:37 , Oliver O'Connell

Direct examination of Ms Paz, the appointed corporate representative for Infowars/Free Speech Sytems, has still not concluded after two full days of testimony.

She will return to the stand at 10am on Friday morning.

Thursday 15 September 2022 21:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Court finishes for the day after Mr Mattei shows jurors video of how Jones finished his alleged final broadcast about Sandy Hook, in which he suggests that the parents seen on TV are soap opera actors.

He then called on his viewers to investigate it: “Let’s look at Sandy Hook.”

Ms Paz admitted that while the video was called “Final statement on Sandy Hook”, Jones has talked about it since.

Thursday 15 September 2022 21:15 , Oliver O'Connell

The jury is shown footage of Jones again claiming that the school was closed for several years and reopened for the hoax shooting to take place.

Mr Mattei says that the smoking gun Alex Jones described — that the school’s website had no traffic for years — wasn’t even using the school’s website.

Ms Paz admits it was not the right website.

Further, Jones claimed on Infowars that kids were “walking in circles” instead of away from the school, but the image shown by Infowars was of parents and survivors gathered at the firehouse and not the school.

These false claims and many more were all in a broadcast by Jones titled: “Final statement on Sandy Hook”.

Mr Mattei says: “Infowars new darn well this video he was putting up to millions of viewers in his ‘final statement on Sandy Hook’ was of the firehouse, not the school.”

Watch: Court shown email from Wolfgang Halbig to Sandy Hook parent

Thursday 15 September 2022 21:09 , Oliver O'Connell

An email from December 2014 shown in court has former Infowars contributor Wolfgang Halbig blaming a Sandy Hook mother for sending her murdered daughter to the school.

Thursday 15 September 2022 20:59 , Oliver O'Connell

Once again Ms Paz is shown evidence of the company’s use of Google Analytics in multiple documents.

Photos from inside the courtroom

Thursday 15 September 2022 20:57 , Oliver O'Connell

Thursday 15 September 2022 20:55 , Oliver O'Connell

The jury now hears that there was internal dissent regarding the pursuit of stories and content about Sandy Hook.

Infowars editor Paul Watson wrote in an internal email:

Thursday 15 September 2022 20:52 , Oliver O'Connell

Anna Merlan of Vice explains that Infowars rewarded and incentivised people such as Halbig and Bidondi who behaved in obnoxious and harassing ways as it boosts their social traffic.

Alex Jones’ lawyer appears to be tweeting during witness testimony

Thursday 15 September 2022 20:46 , Oliver O'Connell

In the middle of the trial, Alex Jones’ lawyer Norm Pattis appears to be tweeting about the migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard arranged by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

He should probably be paying attention, right? One would assume...

Earlier, he appeared to be asleep:

Thursday 15 September 2022 20:29 , Oliver O'Connell

Court resumes with an extended video of Infowars contributor Dan Bidondi harassing officials in Newtown, Connecticut, including the police chief, while a cameraman pushes his equipment into their faces.

They are both yelling that “the truth will come out” and that they are “all going to jail” and calling them “scumbags” for “covering up Sandy Hook”.

Mr Mattei describes the footage as what Jones likes and how he likes to deploy Bidondi.

On a recording played to the court, Jones can be heard saying: “You know what we say about Bidondi? ... release the Kraken!”

Thursday 15 September 2022 20:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The court is taking a 15-minute recess.

Thursday 15 September 2022 19:59 , Oliver O'Connell

The court is shown another email - this one from Halbig to Sandy Hook parent Scarlett Lewis, CCing Infowars.

“How could you as a mother buy your special brand of coffee when you heard as a mom that shots had been fired? Scarlett, it is just a matter of time that all that money you have has to be returned.”

He adds: “Do some soul-searching because the scam is up.”

Halbig sent hundreds of similar harassing emails to Sandy Hook families.

Thursday 15 September 2022 19:52 , Oliver O'Connell

The testimony moves on to another clip about how Infowars aired a false claim that one of the parents, Robbie Parker, who worked as a physicians’ assistant in a neonatal intensive care program, worked for a Masonic-backed microchipping scheme.

Halbig said Mr Parker neededto be investigated.

Mr Parker is sitting in the public gallery of the courtroom today.

Thursday 15 September 2022 19:37 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Mattei moves on to parent Leny Pozner’s successful takedown of Infowars content for showing his late son.

The Jury is shown a clip of Jones saying he got 10 million YouTube viewers a week, and “a billion views” since 2008 across various platforms.

Mr Pozner’s YouTube complaint caused his channel to get shut down and Jones responded by showing Mr Pozner’s business address on air.

Ms Paz is asked if Jones did this in retaliation and she says she wouldn’t use that word but wouldn’t speculate on what word she would use.

Thursday 15 September 2022 19:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Ms Paz is asked to read out an email from Halbig to the mother of a Sandy Hook victim in December 2014 accusing of her of not protecting her child by sending her to the school saying it was a “toxic waste dump” and accusing her of “child endangerment”.

Halbig wrote: “Josephine, your child, should have expected more from you ... you are supposed to protect her from lifelong health risks when you sent her to that school.”

Ms Paz then confirms that despite having knowledge of the email, Infowars continued to have Halbig on as a guest.

Another email is shown from 2020 in relation to this very court case. Halbig writes to Infowars news director Rob Dew suggesting different deposition strategies.

Thursday 15 September 2022 19:14 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Mattei plays another Infowars video of Jones calling the shooting a “giant hoax.”

“How do you deal with a total hoax? How do you even convince the public it’s a total hoax?” he says.

A caller says to Jones that he lives 50 miles from Sandy Hook says that there is “no there, there” and repeats the hoax that the shooting hadn’t happened.

There is a feedback loop between Jones and his caller regarding the conspiracy.

Jones says the “whole thing is fake, and it pretty much didn’t happen” and he came to that conclusion after doing “deep research.”

Ms Paz confirms from the witness stand that Jones did no such research.

Jones says he sent an investigator to Newtown. Ms Paz acknowledges that the investigator was Wolfgang Halbig.

Court resumes after lunch

Thursday 15 September 2022 19:08 , Oliver O'Connell

Court resumes after lunch and Free Speech Systems’ corporate represenative Brittany Paz returns to the stand.

Mr Mattei begins by asking Ms Paz about a documentary aired by Infowars titled: We Need To Talk About Sandy Hook.

Jarring footage of Jones raises eyebrows in jury

Thursday 15 September 2022 18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Elizabeth Williamson of The New York Times notes that the videos shown in court of Jones broadcasting bogus claims about Sandy Hook on his show and then pivoting immediately into selling merchandise and supplements to his audience have raised a few eyebrows among members of the jury.

Thursday 15 September 2022 18:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Court breaks for lunch.

Direct examination of Ms Paz will continue in an hour.

As a representative of Free Speech Systems/Infowars, she still refuses to acknowledge Infowars uses Google Analytics despite all of the evidence presented in court that it does.

Thursday 15 September 2022 18:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Reviewing Infowars’s daily revenue figures around the time of the bogus FBI story, the day prior to its broadcast the company brought in approximately $48,000, and the day after $232,000 — a 500% increase.

Thursday 15 September 2022 17:54 , Oliver O'Connell

Ms Pax is now asked about the revenues of Free Speech Systems/Infowars as the corporate representative. She says the company has made millions of dollars. Mr Mattei corrects her and says in yesterday’s testimony she said “hundreds of millions of dollars”.

Again, Ms Paz says she cannot recall an exact number but concedes that the company brings in more than $100m but less than $1bn.

Thursday 15 September 2022 17:47 , Oliver O'Connell

In a deep dive into the data around the bogus Adan Salazar story about the FBI that claimed no one died at Sandy Hook, it is clear that traffic from multiple sources spiked to the site. Ms Pax concedes the reason is the Salazar story.

The majority of visitors to the site come from social media. When Jones had Halbig on to discuss the FBI statistics and other false theories about Sandy Hook, social media traffic to Infowars doubled, with more than two-thirds of traffic to the site coming from social media.

Thursday 15 September 2022 17:38 , Oliver O'Connell

Back on Google Analytics, Mr Mattei shows data that shows Infowars pageviews went from approximately 500,000 impressions to 2 million after the publication of a bogus Sandy Hook story in 2014.

After running bogus Sandy Hook stories or posting videos, Infowars saw a 33.4 per cent increase in new visitors to the website, Mr Mattei shows the jury.

Despite all the evidence presented to the court, including clearly labelled emails and attachments saying so, Ms Paz refuses to concede whether she knows if Infowars uses Google Analytics.