Court: Newtown Parents Can Sue Alex Jones

Defamation cases are pending over Infowars calling mass shooting a hoax
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 23, 2021 1:45 PM CST
Alex Jones Must Face Sandy Hook Lawsuits: Court
Alex Jones, left, attends a rally in support of President Trump on Jan. 6 in Washington.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Alex Jones has lost his attempt to have lawsuits by the parents of children shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary thrown out. The Texas Supreme Court made no comment in rejecting Jones' argument Friday, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The parents sued after Jones and his Infowars broadcasts called the shootings a hoax to build support for gun restrictions. The 2012 attack in Newtown, Conn., killed 12 young students and six adults. Lower courts also had decided to allow the four lawsuits to proceed. Each suit seeks damages of more than $1 million, per the Connecticut Post. "We are pleased Mr. Jones is learning that his frivolous efforts to delay this case will not spare him from the reckoning to come," a lawyer for the parents said Friday.

Jones' lawyers argued that he was addressing issues of public interest and that his "hoax" comments were constitutionally protected. A lawyer for the families argued that Jones didn't just blame a government conspiracy, he was generally accusing the parents of taking part in it. The lawyer called Jones' theory a "fantasy about a shadowy government conspiracy to murder first-graders and then exploit the event with the help of the media and actors." The court also allowed a suit by a man Infowars falsely named as a suspect in the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting in 2018 to proceed. Jones' lawyers did not comment on the rulings. (Jones has since blamed his accusations on mental issues.)

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