WATCH Infowars’ Alex Jones Admit Sandy Hook Shooting Was ‘100% Real’ at Defamation Trial
23:34 GMT 03.08.2022 (Updated: 17:16 GMT 31.07.2023)
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Infowars founder Alex Jones told a Texas courtroom on Wednesday that he now understands the massacre of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, in 2012 was “100% real” and not “a giant hoax,” as he has maintained for years.
"Especially since I've met the parents. It's 100% real," Jones said at his trial on Wednesday.
“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,” Jones said, adding that he was influenced by Steve Pieczenick, a former State Department adviser turned purveyor of conspiracy theories.
Alex Jones now admits Sandy Hook was “100% real”, but then plays the victim. pic.twitter.com/zsfs4PB8np
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 3, 2022
However, he then tried to spin the story and make himself the victim, saying the media “ran with lies that I was saying it wasn’t real.”
“It’s incredible, they won’t let me take it back,” he said. “They just want to keep me in the position of being ‘the Sandy Hook man.’”
The defamation trial had been brought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse Lewis was among those killed by gunman Adam Lanza in the Sandy Hook shooting. According to Jones’ prior claims, no one had been killed at Sandy Hook and those seen mourning were “crisis actors” who were part of a US Department of Homeland Security drill.
"I am a mother first and foremost and I know you are a father. My son existed," Lewis said to Jones during her testimony. "I am not deep state ... I know you know that ... And yet you're going to leave this courthouse and say it again on your show."
“Do you think I’m an actor?” Lewis asked Jones at one point. Jones told her that he didn’t, but was admonished by the judge for speaking out of turn.
They are seeking $150 million in damages from Jones in response to the suffering, death threats and harassment they’ve endured as a result of what Jones has said on his radio show.
Jones has been forced to pay damages to several other families of Sandy Hook victims and declared bankruptcy in April as a result.
18 April 2022, 19:12 GMT
'You Know What Perjury Is, Right?'
Earlier on Wednesday, Helsin and Lewis’ lawyer, Mark Bankston, revealed to Jones that his counsel had mistakenly sent Bankston two years’ worth of cell phone data from Jones’ phone, proving he had sent text messages about Sandy Hook. Under cross-examination, Jones stated he’d given his phone to his lawyer, but Bankston pointed out that Jones had stated in a sworn deposition that he’d gone through the files himself.
“Do you know what perjury is?” pic.twitter.com/awbBpVf4Tl
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 3, 2022
“You know what perjury is, right?” Bankston asked Jones at that point, reminding him that he can still use his Fifth Amendment right not to be compelled to give self-incriminating testimony.
Jones is likely well aware, as he invoked the Fifth Amendment dozens of times during his testimony before the US House of Representatives' January 6 committee earlier this year. Jones was subpoenaed by the committee because of his role in planning the events of January 6, 2021, when a horde of supporters of US President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol Building and temporarily dispersed Congress.
Five people died in the assault, but the insurrectionists failed at their goal of voiding the results of the November 2020 election and were soon driven from the building. More than 25,000 US troops garrisoned the city and US President Joe Biden was sworn in several weeks later under unprecedented heavy guard.
