As part of their lawsuit against Alex Jones, two of the Sandy Hook families suing the right-wing conspiracy theorist asked a jury for $150 million in damages on Tuesday.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Bankston stated in his opening remarks, “That is a hefty verdict for sure, but it is one that will do justice to the level of injury done in this case.
“The harm that was done to the parents, grieving parents of killed children, who have had to endure for ten years, the most terrible and vile campaign of defamation and slander in American history,” Bankston said. “It was the most nasty and vile campaign in American history.”
One dollar every person who accepts the Sandy Hook shooting conspiracy theories spread by Jones amounts to $150 million, according to Bankston, who estimated that 75 million people believe the conspiracy theories. As a result of a decade of harassment by Jones and his supporters, the parents would receive an additional $75 million in compensation.
Sandy Hook relatives are suing Jones, who was found legally accountable for making misleading assertions about the tragedy that killed 26 lives in October.
Due to Jones’ refusal to comply with court orders, the judge in the case, Travis County District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, imposed default judgments against him.
In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, Jones falsely claimed that the incident had been manufactured. Since being sued, Jones has admitted that the shooting did take place. In a 2019 sworn deposition, he claimed that his fraudulent remarks were the result of a “kind of insanity.”
“Alex Jones would become patient zero for the Sandy Hook hoax within a month of the massacre,” Bankston stated in his opening speech.
Despite the public plea from one of the parents to Jones to stop spreading false information, Jones “doubled down,” he told the jury, targeting the parent in video content and calling him an actor lying about having a child who had died in the shooting, despite the fact that Jones had previously been accused of spreading false information.
One of the attorneys for Jones, Andino Reynal, claimed in his own opening statement that the plaintiffs’ lawyer misled the court.
A “scheme of lies” was what Reynal described Bankston’s opening statement as.
Reynal’s goal was to paint Jones as a careless reporter who made blunders covering the Sandy Hook massacre, and he blamed the news cycle’s lightning-fast pace for this.
People on talk shows and pundits grab information and run with it if they understand how the news cycle works, according to Reynal. “In Alex Jones’s opinion, these folks were not credible. In fact, he didn’t do it out of retaliation.”
Because he believed it was significant, Reynal said, “the facts will indicate he did it because he thought it was vital coverage.”
Due to what Reynal referred to as “poor coverage” by the mainstream media, Reynal claimed that thousands of individuals were questioning the incident, and not just Jones.
“There is no faith in the government in Alex Jones’ eyes. Many people in the United States have lost faith in their government “Reynal made the statement.
Reynal claims that the evidence to be presented at the trial would establish that Jones did not harass the parents. He also questioned whether the parents had heard Jones’ remarks regarding the shooting at the high school in Connecticut.
Reynal described representing Jones and Free Speech Systems as a “honor” and “honor.”
Reynal described him as “one of the most divisive people in this country.” It is my privilege not because I agree with everything he says, but because I agree with his right to say it and with every American’s right to select what they watch and hear and believe.
Tuesday, Gamble chastises Jones for talking to the media during a recess of the hearing.
Gamble remarked, “We’re not going to do that again.”
Outside of the courtroom, “or if there is any member of the jury in sight,” said Gamble, “every participant in the trial is instructed to stay silent” regarding the case.