Conspiracy theorist extraordinaire Alex Jones spent years whipping up his followers against the grieving families of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Jones will likely never face anything like real justice, but he is facing a series of defamation lawsuits by the families and an FBI agent who was part of the response to the mass murder.
The families allege in one suit, filed by Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder in Bridgeport, that Mr. Jones and his colleagues “persistently perpetuated a monstrous, unspeakable lie: that the Sandy Hook shooting was staged, and that the families who lost loved ones that day are actors who faked their relatives’ deaths.”
Two other suits were filed in Texas last month. In response, Jones has started trying to walk it back, but he can’t get away from the reality that he said “If children were lost in Sandy Hook, my heart goes out to each and every one of those parents, and the people that say they’re parents that I see on the news. The only problem is, I’ve watched a lot of soap operas, and I’ve seen actors before.” He can’t get away from the reality that his followers have stalked and harassed and threatened parents of horrifically murdered children. He can’t get away from the fact that he called this man a liar:
After the body of Jesse Lewis, age 6, was recovered from his classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School, his father, Neil Heslin, cradled him for a final time. At the top of Jesse’s forehead was the gunshot wound that ended his life. “It meant a lot to be able to see him,” Mr. Heslin said in an interview. “When he was born, I was the first to see him, and I was the last one to hold him.”
Jones likely makes millions of dollars a year and he’s a favorite of Donald Trump. And that’s what he is: the monster who would hear a father talking about cradling his murdered child and say “the coroner said no, the parents weren’t allowed to have touched the kids or have seen the kids.” So no, he won’t face the kind of justice he deserves. But we can hope those families take him for every penny he has.