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A defiant Alex Jones has arrived in a Connecticut state court to declare him innocent, even though he has been found responsible for spreading the lie that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.
A jury has heard evidence for a week to determine how much Jones must pay the families of eight victims and an FBI agent who was the first to take away 20 first-graders and six educators. One of the people who responded to the shooting for life.
Jones arrived at court around 9.30am, but it is unclear when he might be called to court. He was accompanied by one of his lawyers, who stated repeatedly on his Infowars website last week that the lawsuit was nothing more than a “show trial.”
“It’s a satire of justice, this judge is a tyrant,” Jones said outside the courthouse.
“This judge ordered me to say I’m guilty and say I’m a liar. None of this is true. I’m not at fault for Sandy Hook on purpose. I challenge that.”
Judge Barbara Bellis found Jones and Infowars’ parent company Free Speech Systems tacitly accepted without trial last year for what she said he repeatedly failed to turn over documents to Sandy Hook lawyers punishment.
Jones complained that he was found “guilty” without trial. A civil trial like that in Connecticut, or one in Texas last month, saw a jury award nearly $50 million in damages to the parents of a child killed in a shooting without any crime.
Jones said Tuesday that the judge “now orders me not to say I’m not innocent, and orders me to say I didn’t profit from Sandy Hook.”
“That’s ordering me to perjury for myself. I won’t perjury under the order of a judge.”
Jones was not allowed to make defenses arguing that he was not responsible, including the First Amendment right to say the shooting didn’t happen and to ask questions.
On December 14, 2012, a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators at the school.
Plaintiffs say Jones’s promotion of the hoax on his show resulted in the families being threatened and harassed by denial of the shooting.
They said they endured death threats and in-person harassment, video recordings of strangers and abusive comments on social media. Some families moved out of the new town to avoid harassment.
They also said that when Jones talked about filming, sales of dietary supplements, clothing, food and other items he sold on the show surged.
A representative for Free Speech Systems told the court last week she believed Jones and his company had made at least $100m (£87m) since the school shooting.
Jones, who has said over the past few years that he believes the shooting did happen, has also condemned the Texas trial on his show.
After being sworn in, before a jury in Austin, he said he realised the hoax lies were irresponsible and hurt people’s feelings and he was sorry for it.
Jones portrayed the trial as a conspiracy by Democrats and the media to bankrupt him and keep him silent. He also complained that he was found “guilty” without trial.
Not guilty in a civil trial, like the civil trials in Connecticut and Texas, and his finding of liability for damages without trial is a sanction for his refusal to comply with a court order to give evidence to the plaintiff.
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