(3 Aug 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
POOL
Austin – 3 August 2022
1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Alex Jones, Conspiracy Theorist:
"I have said before that there have been so many lies, so many things in the past, that I was under a lot of pressure. And I truly when I said those statements. When I say something, I mean it. That I really could believe that it was totally staged at that point and I was basing that off of, really, Steve Pieczenik, who is, has been a very prestigious person."
(Attorney question: "Do you understand now that it was absolutely irresponsible of you to do that?")
"It was. Especially since I've met the parents. And it's 100 percent real. As I said so on the radio yesterday. As I said here yesterday. It's a hundred percent real. And the media still ran with lies that I was saying it wasn't real, on-air, yesterday. It's incredible. They won't let me take it back. They just wanna keep me in the position of being the Sandy Hook man. My son got confronted yesterday."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones testified Wednesday that he now understands it was irresponsible of him to declare the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre a hoax and that he now believes it was "100% real."
Speaking a day after the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed in the 2012 attack testified about the suffering, death threats and harassment they've endured because of what Jones has trumpeted on his media platforms, the Infowars host told a Texas courtroom that he definitely thinks the attack happened.
"Especially since I've met the parents. It's 100% real," Jones said at his trial to determine how much he and his media company, Free Speech Systems, owe for defaming Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis. Their son Jesse Lewis was among the 20 students and six educators who were killed in the attack in Newtown, Connecticut, which was the deadliest school shooting in American history.
But Heslin and Lewis said Tuesday that an apology wouldn't suffice and that Jones needed to be held accountable for repeatedly spreading falsehoods about the attack. They are seeking at least $150 million in the trial, which was held to determine how much Jones and his media company, Free Speech Systems, must pay for defaming Heslin and Lewis.
Testimony in the trial, which is in its second week, concluded at around midday Wednesday.
During closing arguments Wednesday afternoon, Jones' attorney Andino Reynal said the plaintiffs didn't prove that his client's actions and words caused actual harm to Heslin and Lewis. He said it's fair to infer that someone else "weaponized" what Jones has said about Sandy Hook and "convinced them that Alex Jones was responsible for their grief."
Jones was the only person who testified in his own defense. His attorney asked him if he now understands it was "absolutely irresponsible" to push the false claims that the massacre didn't happen and no one died.
Jones said he does, but added, "They (the media) won't let me take it back."
Under a withering cross-examination from attorney Mark Bankston, Jones acknowledged his history of raising conspiracy claims regarding other mass tragedies, from the Oklahoma City and Boston Marathon bombings to the mass shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida.
Jones has already tried to protect Free Speech Systems financially. The company, which is Infowars' parent company, filed for federal bankruptcy protection last week. Sandy Hook families have separately sued Jones over his financial claims, arguing that the company is trying to protect millions owned by Jones and his family through shell entities.
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