Alex Jones took the stand Thursday at his Connecticut defamation trial, acknowledging he had promoted the conspiracy theory that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, but angrily refusing to keep apologizing for that. More than a dozen relatives of the 26 shooting victims showed up to observe his often contentious testimony in Waterbury Superior Court, the AP reports, about 20 miles from Newtown, where the shooting occurred. Jones was found liable last year by default for damages to plaintiffs without a trial, for what the judge called his repeated failures to turn over documents to their lawyers.
The six-member jury is now deciding how much Jones and Free Speech Systems, parent of Jones' Infowars media platforms, should pay the families for defaming them and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. On Thursday, Jones admitted calling parents "crisis actors" on his show and saying the shooting was "phony as a three-dollar bill." Plaintiff attorney Christopher Mattei accused Jones of putting targets on the parents' backs, saying "these are real people" while pointing to the family members in the courtroom. "Just like all the Iraqis you liberals killed and love," Jones responded. "Just, you're unbelievable. You switch on emotions, on-and-off when you want. You're just ambulance chasing.”
As Jones' lawyer, Norm Pattis, shouted objections and several family members shook their heads in apparent disbelief, Mattei shot back, "Why don't you show a little respect?" The exchange went on, with Mattei pointing out that the families in the courtroom had "lost children, sisters, wives, moms." Jones, who in recent years has acknowledged the shooting was real, asked: "Is this a struggle session? Are we in China? I've already said I'm sorry hundreds of times, and I'm done saying I'm sorry." After excusing the jury for the day, Judge Barbara Bellis admonished both sides, saying further outbursts would lead to a contempt hearing. (On Tuesday, Jones called the judge a tyrant.)
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