Alex Jones can be sued by Sandy Hook parents, Texas Supreme Court says
By: Chuck Lindell (USA TODAY)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Chuck LindellAustin American-Statesman
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected, without comment, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' attempt to toss out four defamation lawsuits by parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012.
The parents sued in Travis County, where Jones and his InfoWars website are based, arguing that they were defamed and suffered emotional distress after InfoWars broadcasts disputed the authenticity of the school shooting and the news coverage that followed.
Twenty young children and six adults died in the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Friday's action by the Supreme Court upheld rulings by two lower courts that had allowed the lawsuits to continue.
The state's highest civil court also gave the green light to another defamation lawsuit against InfoWars and reporter Kit Daniels by a man mistakenly identified as a suspect in the 2018 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida.
The photo of Marcel Fontaine, who was not the shooter, remained on the InfoWars website for 13 hours, and no correction was issued at the time explaining the mistaken identification, court records show.
Friday's Sandy Hook rulings will allow four lawsuits to proceed:
• Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, filed two lawsuits taking exception to statements by Jones alleging that the school shooting at Sandy Hook was "a giant hoax" and disputing Heslin's claim that he had held his dead son in his arms afterward.
• Scarlett Lewis, mother of Jesse Lewis, noted statements by Jones that the school shooting was "as phony as a three-dollar bill" as well as other statements on InfoWars implying that parents were not genuinely grieving the loss of their children.
• Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, parents of 6-year-old Noah Pozner, quoted broadcasts in which Jones cast the school shooting as a "false flag" hoax intended to create a pretext for the government to limit gun rights.
Friday's announcement by the Supreme Court noted that two members, Justices Jeff Boyd and John Devine, would have granted Jones' petition for review in the Pozner lawsuit, but the court order provided no reasons for their dissent.
In briefs to the Supreme Court, lawyers for Jones argued that the InfoWars host was engaging in protected speech because he was addressing matters of public concern.
"The pursuit of so-called 'conspiracy theories' concerning controversial government activities has been a part and parcel of American political discourse since our Founding, and it is protected by the First Amendment," they told the court in a brief for the Pozner and De La Rosa case.
Jones also argued that state libel laws required any harmful speech to be directed at specific family members, but the Sandy Hook families were not named in three InfoWars reports in 2017.
But a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families argued that Jones didn't merely say the school shooting was staged by the government, he also generally accused family members of being actors to help sell a supposed coverup and exploit the event to attack gun rights.
As a result, Jones and InfoWars accused family members of collusion in a hoax "relating to the murder of their son ... for nefarious purposes," lawyer Mark Bankston told the court.
Jones also was reckless in publishing information that was so improbable that no reasonable publisher would have done likewise without substantial confirmation, Bankston argued.
"Mr. Jones' fantasy about a shadowy government conspiracy to murder first-graders and then exploit the event with the help of the media and actors is the very definition of 'improbable,'" he wrote.
Bankston welcomed the court's action Friday. "We are pleased Mr. Jones is learning that his frivolous efforts to delay this case will not spare him from the reckoning to come," he said.
Lawyers for Jones did not respond to a request for comment.
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Today in an effort to distract us, Alex claims he paid "almost $500,000.00" to pay for the 01/06 rally
Major news sources have verified that the Trump campaign paid as much as $2.7 million to other rally organizers ( 1.7 mil to Event Stages for the same equipment Alex jones is now claiming credit for.
Many of the permits were applied for on 11/23/20.
On a related level, we can talk about Caroline Wren all day long. She is/was/were a top campaign aid who owns Bluebonnet Fundraising LLC, here in TX. They specialize in online and cellphone fundraising and know when the time is right to to hit up people for $$$ on their phones...You know...like during a big-ass rally, where Trump is whipping up the attendees into a big-ass frenzy by saying he is going to lead them on their march to the Capitol. At the peak of the frenzy, these idiots get a text that says something like, "For a few dollars more, we can insure that the Capitol building will be ours and remain ours forever! MAGA will reign!!! Send that money now before before it's too late!"
Ted Cruz uses Bluebonnet Fundraising. His supporters received an automated text as millions were watching the insurrection live, or even worse, participating in it. Josh Hawley also took advantage of the frenzied moment and an automated email was sent to his base, however, it's not clear if he is using Bluebonnet Fundraising.
When did grift become a career choice?
Source
Oops, I almost forgot, the Trump Campaign pays Caroline Wren $20,000.00 per month.
Maybe Jones is going for an insanity defense.
He is clearly lying about 01/06/21 in almost every way possible.
In briefs to the Supreme Court, lawyers for Jones argued that the InfoWars host was engaging in protected speech because he was addressing matters of public concern.
A lawyer for the Sandy Hook families argued that Jones didn't merely say the school shooting was staged by the government, he also generally accused family members of being actors to help sell a supposed coverup and exploit the event to attack gun rights.
A lawyer for the Sandy Hook families argued that Jones didn't merely say the school shooting was staged by the government, he also generally accused family members of being actors to help sell a supposed coverup and exploit the event to attack gun rights.
And Jones' rantings have been quite effective:
Sandy Hook father Leonard Pozner on death threats: ‘I never imagined I’d have to fight for my child’s legacy’
Noah was the youngest victim killed in the 2012 school massacre. His parent talks about dealing with the conspiracy theorists and hoaxers who have taunted him ever since,
A parent talks about dealing with the conspiracy theorists and hoaxers who have taunted him ever since.
Noah Pozner was reluctant to go to school that day. A mischievous little boy, who had celebrated his sixth birthday three weeks earlier, he stayed in bed too long and dragged his feet getting ready. “I said to him: ‘Come on, Noah, we gotta get moving,”
[...]
At school, Noah jumped out, his backpack in one hand, his jacket in the other. He was wearing a Batman shirt and Spider-Man trainers. “I said: ‘I love you, have a great day,’ and that was the last thing I ever said to him,” says Pozner. After all, he adds, “Not even Batman could have stopped an AR-15.”
[...]
Noah was the youngest victim of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, murdered about half an hour after his father dropped him off. A sweet-faced, big-eyed, brown-haired boy, his tiny body took multiple bullets. His jaw was blown off, as was his left hand, and his beloved Batman shirt was soaked with blood. For his funeral, his mother, Veronique, insisted he have an open casket.
“I want the world to see what they did to my baby,” she said at the time.
Just days after the massacre, when the US was still reeling from the tragedy, and Pozner himself was, he says, “pretty much in a catatonic state”, the theories started spreading: Sandy Hook had never happened, it was staged by actors, the children had never existed, it was a ruse by President Obama/the anti-gun movement/the “New World Order global elitists”.
The families were harassed by hoaxers, online and off, insisting that they stop their fake grieving. When Pozner roused himself from his catatonic grief to post photos of Noah online, hoaxers would leave comments: “Fake kid”, “Didn’t die”, “Fucking liar”.
Unfortunately, this sounds all too familiar:
. . . the theories started spreading: Sandy Hook had never happened, it was staged by actors, the children had never existed, it was a ruse by President Obama/the anti-gun movement/the “New World Order global elitists”.
Unfortunately, this sounds all too familiar: . . . the theories started spreading: Sandy Hook had never happened, it was staged by actors, the children had never existed, it was a ruse by President Obama/the anti-gun movement/the “New World Order global elitists”.
And this sorts of delusional hate-mongering didn't end with Sandy Hook. If anything, its gotten worse during the Trump administration:
Capitol Rioter Allegedly Tweeted He Wanted To 'Assassinate' AOC
I wonder who the top bankruptcy lawyer is in austin, and his retainer ...
What a POS, I hope that they drive him into bankruptcy.
Can you imagine the pain this POS is putting the parents who lost their children through?
What Alex Jones did, deliberate lies, intentional slander, unbelievably painful false accusations, deserves multimillion dollar punitive damage awards. There ARE limits to "Free Speech".
Take the fucker for every penny he has
hell yeah, lol.
Damages arising from intentional torts, and punitive damages, cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. Defamation is an intentional tort. If Jones is found liable, they can take his assets, and pretty much chase him down forever and take future earnings until the judgment is satisfied. However, he likely has insurance coverage for defamation, so his insurance company would be obligated to pay to the extent of his policy limits. Insurance coverage is not applicable to punitive damages. The amount of any judgment in excess of his insurance policy limits, or for punitive damages, would remain his personal responsibility.
... even better.
I am not familiar with all of the specifics regarding garnishment or attachment of assets. That is a topic for a bankruptcy lawyer.
Would the insurance company drop him after that?
Here's an oldie, but a goodie. The entire thing is worth watching, but the stuff about Alex Jones starts @11:56. It segues into the Sandy Hook discussion pretty quickly. Also of interest is the part where Donald Trump (who had just won the election in 2016) tells Alex Jones in a Skype interview, "Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down. You will be very, very impressed, I hope. We'll be speaking a lot." Involuntary yuck shimmies abound.
https://youtu.be/xecEV4dSAXE?t=717
Birds of a feather...
"Your reputation is amazing"
I totally agree!
(Although Jone's reputation is not "amazing" in the wonderful way Trump implied-- rather its amazing in a totally opposite way!!!)