Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Alex Jones trial shown video of Infowars host belittling jury and accusing judge of ‘rigging’ Sandy Hook case

Right-wing agitator being sued for $150m in Texas over Sandy Hook claims

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Thursday 04 August 2022 12:37 BST
Comments
Alex Jones lawyers accidentally sent his text messages to the prosecution

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Alex Jones defamation trial was shown a video of the Infowars host belittling the jury in his case and the judge being accused of “rigging” the proceedings.

The lawyer for the parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre played the video, which saw Mr Jones say that the jury consisted of people who “don’t know what planet they’re on”.

Mark Bankston, who is the lawyer for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose six-year-old son Jesse was among the 20 students and six adults killed in the mass shooting, told the jury that Mr Jones made the comments while on air on Friday.

The family is seeking $150m in damages from Jones and his media company for the claims he has made that the massacre was a “false flag” operation and that the victims did not actually exist.

Mr Bankston also showed the jury an image that appeared on Mr Jones’ show that he claimed depicted Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, who is overseeing the case, on fire.

Mr Jones told the court that it was Lady Justice on fire, not the actual judge.

Mr Jones also stated in the video that the judge could not be trusted as she worked with Child Protective Services, which he claimed was connected to child trafficking.

Mr Bankston then played a video of lawyer Robert Barnes, Mr Jones previous lawyer, stating, “Judges rigging a court proceeding to make sure the script – literally a script, a script – is told in a certain way for audiences.”

Mr Jones then told the court that he believed the “jury was real” and that they “should decide my guilt”.

During his testimony on Wednesday, Mr Jones finally said that the massacre was “100 per cent real”.

“Especially since I’ve met the parents. It’s 100 per cent real,” Mr Jones said.

During the final day of testimony, the lawyer for the family stunningly informed Mr Jones that his own attorney had accidentally sent them two years of his text messages.

Mr Jones had claimed during discovery that he could not find any text messages relating to Sandy Hook on his phone but denied that he had lied under oath.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in