'I don’t think we disagree that there were false statements made' - Infowars lawyer on Sandy Hook

Record ID: 1688985

  • Title: 'I don’t think we disagree that there were false statements made' - Infowars lawyer on Sandy Hook
  • Date: 14th September 2022
  • Summary: WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 14, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SANDY HOOK FAMILIES WALKING INTO CONNECTICUT SUPERIOR COURT DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR ALEX JONES, NORM PATTIS, WALKING INTO COURTHOUSE PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY, ALINOR STERLING, WALKING TO COURTHOUSE VARIOUS OF PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY, CHRISTOPHER MATTEI TWO BOXES OF EVIDENCE FOR THE ALEX JONES TRIAL WHEELED INTO COURTHOUSE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ENTERING COURTHOUSE POLICE VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF COURTHOUSE
  • Embargoed: 28th September 2022 18:25
  • Keywords: Alex Jones Infowars Sandy Hook mass shooting massacre
  • Location: WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES
  • City: WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA001532814092022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:An Infowars lawyer for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said on the witness stand in Waterbury, Connecticut on Wednesday (September 14) that "there were false statements made" from Infowars on the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting.
    When asked by Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the families of the Sandy Hook victims, if the Infowars headline of "Connecticut School Massacre Looks Like False Flag, Witnesses Say" was false, Infowars lawyer Brittany Paz said, "I don't think that we disagree that there were false statements made in connection with Sandy Hook."
    Mattei told a Connecticut jury on Tuesday (September 13) that Jones would never stop profiting from destructive falsehoods unless he pays for his lies about the massacre.
    Twenty children and six staff members were killed on Dec. 14, 2012, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
    In Jones' second trial related to the massacre, jurors will decide how much in damages he owes 13 family members of victims as well as one FBI agent for claiming the massacre was a hoax.
    Jones' trial in a Waterbury, Connecticut state court, about 20 miles (32 km) from Newtown, comes one month after a jury in Austin, Texas awarded two parents $49.3 million in a similar case.
    The plaintiffs sued Jones and Infowars parent company Free Speech Systems LLC in 2018.
    They said the harassment was conducted by people who believed Jones' false claims that the government staged the Sandy Hook shooting with crisis actors as a pretext for seizing guns, and that the families faked their children's deaths.
    Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting took place.
    Adam Lanza, the gunman, used a Remington Bushmaster rifle as he shot his way into the school, after shooting his mother to death at home. The massacre ended when Lanza killed himself as he heard approaching police sirens.
    Jurors are required solely to determine how much Jones and Free Speech Systems must pay for spreading lies about the massacre.
    A judge issued a default judgment in the case in November after Jones failed to comply with court orders.
    Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy in July. That would typically shield the company from lawsuits, but it agreed to face trial in August.
    In a Tuesday hearing in the bankruptcy case, a judge rejected Free Speech Systems' request to reimburse Jones for travel expenses and security detail.
    The $49.3 million award in Austin could be reduced substantially because it consists mostly of non-economic damages intended to punish Jones for his conduct.
    A lawyer for Jones has said he will seek to reduce the $45.2 million punitive damages component to $1.5 million, citing a Texas law imposing a cap. Lawyers for the parents have said that the cap does not apply and Jones should pay the full amount.
    (Production: Aleksandra Michalska and Roselle Chen)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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