Summary:
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Mark Bankston demands $150 million from Alex Jones for Sandy Hook hoax claims, sparking outrage and legal battles.
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Jones faces defamation lawsuits for spreading conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook shooting, arguing it violates his first amendment rights.
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Families of victims testify against Jones, seeking justice beyond monetary compensation to expose the harm of spreading lies.
Mark Bankston, the lawyer of the parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting, told a jury Alex Jones should pay $150 million dollars to them for claiming the death of their child was a hoax and the parents were complicit. This is the first time the family of Sandy Hook victims asked for a specific number in regards to suffering when it comes to the false claims Alex Jones and his broadcast on Infowars caused.
Just posted from Austin, where Alex Jones visibly blanched when lawyers for Neil Heslin & Scarlett Lewis, parents of Jesse Lewis, suggested a $150 mln damages verdict for Jones’ Sandy Hook lies https://t.co/al7HilW2qa
— Elizabeth Williamson (@NYTLiz) July 27, 2022
Jones has made claims about Sandy Hook being a government hoax in order to justify outlawing guns. The families sued Jones for defamation and won, and now three trials will continue to decide how much money Jones should be given. Jones, who believes this is a violation of his first amendment, was upset with the number given, and called the trials a “Constitution-destroying, absolute, total and complete travesty.”
Alex Jones spread lies for years about the Sandy Hook shooting and now juries will decide in three separate trials how much Jones must pay for the suffering he caused. Jones’s lawyers fear the awards could be potentially ruinous to his Infowars empire. https://t.co/qefV1x4hMp
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 26, 2022
Bankston justified the number in the trial, noting Jones’ claims were “the most despicable and vile campaign of defamation and slander in American history.” The parents of one of the children killed in the shooting, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, are set to testify about the damage caused by the lie Jones told where he claimed Heslin’s recollection of cradling his son’s body was fake. As such, the family has suffered harassment and threats.
As the trial of dangerous conspiracist Alex Jones begins, Sandy Hook parents will be asking for over $150M in damages.
Good, sue him into poverty and oblivion. Put him in financial ruin. Get every damn penny.
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) July 27, 2022
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With how sensitive the topic is, and heartbreaking it is to imagine a family grieving as they deal with threats that the death of their child was a hoax, many online are hoping Jones will have to pay a high fee. The Sandy Hook families have also noted how their goal goes much farther than money or restitution, as started by the New York Times “They want the trials to alert Americans to the mounting damage done to vulnerable people and civic life by viral political lies.”
