Attorney Mark Bankston, representing the parents of slain 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, made the accusation at the start of a jury trial to decide how much Jones should pay for spreading falsehoods about the killing of 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary . School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. Jones, founder of the Infowars radio show and webcast, had argued that the mainstream media and gun control activists conspired to fabricate the tragedy. He had said that filming was done with crisis actors, but later acknowledged that it took place. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Mr. Jones has constantly promoted this idea that Sandy Hook was fake,” Bankston told jurors. He said Jones and Infowars were responsible for “the most despicable and despicable campaign of defamation and slander in American history.” Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, Jesse’s parents, are seeking $150 million in damages and punitive damages for what they say is a campaign of harassment and death threats by Jones’ followers. Federico Reynal, Jones’ lawyer, acknowledged that Infowars had spread false information, but said his client had the right to challenge mainstream narratives on his show. He said Jones has lost millions of viewers since he went off the social media platform in 2018. “He regrets what he did and he’s paying a price for it,” Reynal said. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin, Texas, who is overseeing the trial, issued a rare default judgment in 2021, finding Jones liable without trial after he violated court orders and failed to turn over documents. The defamation suit in Texas, where Infowars is based, is one of several filed by families of victims who say they were harassed by Jones’ followers and suffered emotional distress after he claimed the shooting was staged. Jones and his company Free Speech Systems LLC are the defendants in the case. The compensation trial follows months of delays. Three entities related to Infowars filed for bankruptcy in a case that has since been dismissed. Families of Sandy Hook victims had said the bankruptcy was a sinister attempt by Jones to shield his assets from liability stemming from defamation lawsuits. Jones, who was present in the courtroom, is set to go on trial in September in a similar defamation suit in Connecticut state court, where he was also found liable for defamation in a default judgment. Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza, 20, used a Remington Bushmaster rifle to carry out the massacre. It ended when Lanza killed himself at the approach of police sirens. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Jack Queen. Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
