Alex Jones trial: Parent says hoax portrayal turned life into a 'living hell'

The father of Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, looking directly at nearby jurors and speaking softly in a voice that broke at times, testified Tuesday that his life was shattered by InfoWars host Alex Jones' portrayals of the school shooting as a hoax.

"I can't even describe the last nine and a half years, the living hell that I and others have had to endure because of the recklessness and negligence of Alex Jones," Neil Heslin said.

It was the first time one of Jesse's parents spoke during the trial that began last week, and several jurors leaned forward to better hear Heslin's quiet recollections.

"Today is very important to me. It's been a long time coming," he said. "I feel very good about being here today to face Alex Jones and hold him accountable for what he said and did to me."

When his lawyer asked about the empty chair at the defense table where Jones would sit during his sporadic attendance of the trial, Heslin called Jones' absence disrespectful.

"I think it's a cowardly act of Alex Jones not facing me here in this courtroom," he said. "Mr. Alex Jones has not had the courage to sit here and face me at this moment."

Jesse's mother, Scarlett Lewis, also testified in the trial that will determine how much Jones must pay in damages for defamation and causing emotional distress. The parents of the slain 6-year-old have asked jurors to award $150 million.

Lewis recounted intrusive emails from Sandy Hook denier Wolfgang Halbig, who was given a forum to spread his hoax claims on InfoWars, and other "unsettling" events, including a man who drove into her driveway and took pictures of the house, and of her when she confronted him, one Christmas morning.

Lewis said she has received death threats, faced harassment and now owns a gun.

"I'm a single mother and responsible for the safety of both of my boys, and I was not able to keep one of them safe, so I am going to keep my surviving son safe," she said.

Jones also missed the first part of Lewis' testimony, arriving in court after the lunch break, and Lewis took the opportunity, several times during her testimony, to speak directly to the InfoWars host as he sat about 15 feet away.

'You're not going to stop'

Lewis said she was pleased to finally confront Jones.

"I wanted to tell you to your face because I wanted you to know that I am a mother first and foremost, and you are a father, and my son existed," she said.

The truth, Lewis said, is vital to a civil society.

"It seems so incredible to me that we have to do this, that we have to implore you — not just implore you, to punish you — to get you to stop lying, saying it's a hoax," she said, looking at Jones. "It happened."

Jones' portrayals are "just not true," Lewis said. "I know you know that, and that's the problem. You keep saying it. Why? Why? To make money? Because you made a lot of money while you said it."

People on the fringe believe those lies, and those people "are dangerous," she said.

An apology from Jones would mean nothing, Lewis said, because it wouldn't be sincere, and Jones has shown no sign of taking responsibility for the damage he's caused.

"You're not going to stop. I don't even think my pleading with you up here is going to get you to stop. All the damage you caused, the fear you put people in from your following, the way that you've impacted so many lives, I think that there has to be accountability for that," she said.

A warning from the judge

Before jurors were seated Tuesday morning, state District Judge May Guerra Gamble warned lawyers that she will not allow the witness stand to be used as a forum.

The judge said she would shut down the courtroom feed to YouTube and remove reporters from the audience "if at any time I feel like a performance is being given, or this is being used for a purpose other than the trial."

"Today is probably going to be among the more emotional days, potentially heated," Guerra Gamble said.

Called as the day's first witness, Heslin was asked if an apology from Jones would suffice.

"Alex Jones' apologies are worthless. It would not be sincere," he said, pointing to a time when Jones made an on-air apology, then resumed portraying the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., as a hoax despite the deaths of 20 first-graders and six educators.

"He continuously went on recklessly, like a carnival barker would, to peddle his propaganda and his lies. I don't think he is capable of a sincere apology," Heslin said.

More:Alex Jones says trial is a 'kangaroo court'

A monetary award, on the other hand, is important, he added: "There has got to be a strong deterrent for Alex Jones to stop peddling his propaganda. With that, maybe restore my credibility and reputation and Jesse's legacy and honor, as he so much deserves."

'My life has been threatened'

Heslin said Jones' portrayals resonated with the conspiracy theorist's followers, leading to frightening confrontations in public, by phone and by email.

"My life has been threatened. I fear for my life and safety, and the safety and life of my wife," he said.

Heslin said he's had encounters with Sandy Hook deniers for years, "right up to this day." Often those harassing him mention Jones or his Austin-based InfoWars. The encounters reopen the wounds of losing Jesse, he said.

In addition, Heslin said, bullets were fired ats his house and cars two years ago. In April, when this trial was first scheduled, somebody drove by his home shouting Alex Jones' name with what sounded like gunfire, he said.

Heslin also said his health has been greatly affected by the hoax claims: "I wake up at night with panic attacks sometimes. I have chest pain" that sent him to the hospital several weeks ago. "Stress, anxiety brought it on."

During his testimony, a class picture of Jesse was shown to the court that had been taken about two weeks before his murder. Heslin said he got it about a week after the attack on Sandy Hook, and he keeps a copy in his pocket.

Heslin told jurors, in great detail, about the wounds his son received to counter InfoWars claims that he could not have held Jesse's body after the attack.

Heslin and Lewis said the portrayals have tarnished the public image of Jesse, who yelled for classmates to run when the gunman's weapon jammed or he was reloading, allowing nine classmates to escape and live.

Jesse, who didn't run, "died a hero," Heslin said.

Jones takes the stand

Jones testified Tuesday afternoon as the only witness expected to be called by the defense.

"I actually feel good because I get a chance for the first time to say what is really going on instead of the corporate media and high-powered law firms saying what I did," he said.

Jones said he long wanted to apologize to Jesse's parents, addressing his next statement to Lewis and Heslin: "I never intentionally tried to hurt you. I never even said your name until this case came to court."

About his coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting, Jones said he was following his pattern of seeking the truth.

"The internet had a lot of questions, I had a lot of questions," he said. "I question every big event, and a lot of times it turns out that we have not been told the truth."

Jones described InfoWars as talk radio on TV, focusing on commentary about the day's top events

"When I'm on the radio show, most of the time I'm just a pundit giving my opinion," he said. "I've admitted that I made a lot of mistakes, but none of it was done as a master-plan deal."

Jones said the pattern — playing news clips or showing print articles, commenting on the information and inviting comment from callers — has not changed since 2012, when the school shooting took place.

Jones is expected to continue testifying Wednesday.

More:Alex Jones' main company files for bankruptcy; Austin trial expected to continue

Parents in protective isolation

Heslin's testimony came one day after a parents' lawyer said they had been placed in isolation under the protection of a beefed-up security detail.

"Unfortunately, after some encounters — which did not occur in the courthouse, there were some encounters here in the city of Austin — my clients are now in isolation, and they are being protected by a large security staff," said Mark Bankston, a lawyer for Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin.

Bankston declined to provide any details about the encounters.

"I can tell you that they are terrified, but they very much intend to continue this saga and finish this trial because they know a lot of people around the world are watching them," he said. "They know the responsibility they have, and we're going to keep them safe and we're going to finish this."

Lewis and Heslin were the last two witnesses for this stage of the trial in their case against Jones. Later this week, jurors will be asked to determine how much the founder of the InfoWars media system and his main company, Free Speech Systems, must pay in damages for defamation and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. Jones repeatedly portrayed the 2012 school shooting as a hoax and the parents as actors and government collaborators as part of a conspiracy to crack down on gun rights.

Closing arguments are expected Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Alex Jones trial: Parent says hoax portrayal was a 'living hell'