Alex Jones seeks dismissal of Sandy Hook defamation case in Austin
"Infowars" host Alex Jones has filed a motion to dismiss a defamation suit against him.
Some of the parents, whose children were killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre, sued Jones after he accused them of lying and suggested the whole thing was a hoax.
Lawyers from both sides made their arguments on Wednesday in a Travis County courtroom. Alex Jones' attorney says his client was expressing his right to free speech. The attorney for the Sandy Hook parents says Jones is abusing that right.
"It's not just having their names spread across the nation as though they were some sort of horrible actors who were trying to enslave the country...it was also that there is a sizable amount of people who follow Jones religiously and believe everything he said," Attorney Mark Bankston said.
Bankston, who represents Leonard Pozner and Veronique de la Rosa, the parents of a child who was killed in the shooting, says his clients have been harassed for years because of Alex Jones.
Bankston's clients filed a multi-million dollar defamation suit after the Infowars host made claims that the shooting was a hoax and the families are paid actors.
"And when I'm talking harassment, I'm talking death threats, people stalking the family, finding out their secret information. This family has had to move seven times since the Sandy Hook massacre and it is because there's a relentless group of people who have believed Mr. Jones' lies."
Jones' attorney argued that there was no defamation, and played clips of Jones apologizing to victims on his show on father's day last year.
"So he's responsible because he said it, but these people not only lost their children in the most horrible way that you can imagine...but they've been harassed by his audience...They have people come up to them and say that their children didn't even exist. And nobody should go through that hell and Alex needs to be held accountable for that," Kelly Jones, Alex Jones' ex-wife said.
Bankston said Wednesday was a true watershed moment.
"No we're not doing this simply to shut off Mr. Jones because we don't like him. Mr. Jones is a bad actor, he's a malevolent man who injects lies for the pure purpose of causing chaos and mayhem. There's nothing that he does that should be constitutionally protected."
The judge says he needs closure on the written records and wants both sides to confirm if there are any missing records from the clerk. Once he receives that, he'll make a ruling in 30 days. If Jones' attorneys ask to appeal this case, it may take another four to five months. Bankston says they hope to have Jones in a courthouse by the end of 2019.