Jury deliberations are underway following a two-week trial marked by several dramatic moments and revelations.
Alex Jones’ defamation trial, which will determine damages that the Infowars host must pay to family members of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, has entered the jury deliberation stage.
Jones has already been found liable for defamation in Texas and Connecticut due to making repeated false claims that the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut—the most deadly elementary school shooting in U.S. history—was a hoax. A second trial to determine damages in Connecticut was expected to begin following jury selection this week but has been delayed due to a last-minute bankruptcy filing for Jones’ media company Free Speech System.
The trial taking place in the far-right conspiracy theorist’s hometown of Austin, Texas, began last week and is set to conclude soon, with attorneys for the defense and the plaintiffs having delivered their closing arguments on Wednesday. The two-week trial has been marked by several dramatic revelations and tense moments, as well as multiple eyebrow-raising incidents. Here are some key takeaways.
Jones had previously falsely claimed that the Sandy Hook shooting—which caused the deaths of 20 children and six adults—was a false flag attack staged by “crisis actors” as part of an attempt to pass gun control legislation. He has walked back the false claims since facing legal blowback.
While testifying in Texas on Wednesday, Jones admitted to the court that the shooting was not staged and falsely said that the media was distorting his views by reporting on the claims he had made.
“It was [real], especially since I’ve met the parents,” Jones testified. “It’s 100 percent real, and the media still ran with lies that I was saying it wasn’t real… They won’t let me take it back.”
Sandy Hook parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was killed in the shooting, filed the lawsuit against Jones in Texas.
