Alex Jones’ lies made life for parents of slain Sandy Hook 6-year-old a ‘living hell,’ father testifies
Alex Jones spent Tuesday doing the same thing he’s done for nearly a decade: Bringing agony to parents who lost a child in the Sandy Hook shooting.
The conspiracy-spouting host did it again on Tuesday, ripping the father of a victim after the man’s heartfelt testimony during a lawsuit against the Infowars host.
“I can’t even describe the past 9½ years of living hell I have had to endure because of the negligence and recklessness of Alex Jones and the propaganda he has peddled for his own profits and success,” Neil Heslin testified on Tuesday.
During a break in the testimony in the court proceeding in Austin, Texas, Jones responded to the devastated dad by unleashing a barrage of bile against him on his Infowars show, calling Heslin “slow” and “on the spectrum.”
Heslin and Scarlett Lewis say the anguish over the murder of their 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis in the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Conn., was compounded by the years-long misinformation onslaught by Jones, whom they are now suing.
Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, testifies against Alex Jones Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. (BRIANA SANCHEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/)
“What was said about me and Sandy Hook itself resonates around the world,” Heslin said, fighting back tears during emotional testimony. “As time went on, I truly realized how dangerous it was.”
For years Jones relentlessly claimed that the mass shooting that took the lives of Jesse, 19 fellow first-graders and six school staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School never happened. He said Jesse was a “child actor” and that Heslin had never held his son’s bullet-ridden body in his arms.
Not only that, but Jones fired up supporters and fellow doubters, who taunted and harassed Jesse’s parents and the families of other victims in the near-decade since the slaughter.
“My life has been threatened,” Heslin testified Tuesday. “I fear for my life, I fear for my safety.”
Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, becomes emotional during his testimony during the trial for Alex Jones on Tuesday in Austin, Texas. (BRIANA SANCHEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/)
Jones, who did not appear in the courtroom during the parents’ testimony, took to the airwaves yet again during the trial’s lunch recess for a hateful harangue against Heslin, the couple’s lawyers informed the court afterward.
The remarks were “astounding, in a bad way” and “horrific,” Lewis said after viewing the clips in court, according to legal news website Law and Crime.
After his lunchtime diatribe, Jones took the stand himself, at first being combative with the judge who prodded him to answer his own attorney’s question, and then testifying that he had long wanted to apologize.
“I never intentionally tried to hurt you. I never said your name until this came to court,” Jones said. “The internet had questions. I had questions.”
Heslin and Lewis are suffering from compounded trauma born of the unremitting harassment and the constant feeling of threat to their lives — not unlike that of children subject to long-term abuse, or soldiers in a war zone, a forensic psychologist who has met with them testified on Monday.
They are seeking $150 million from Jones and his Free Speech Systems media company. That company, and Jones’ other ventures, have filed for bankruptcy, spurring more lawsuits.
Jones contends he is protecting his free speech, even though none of what he has been spewing is true.
Alex Jones arrives at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Tecxas, on Tuesday. (BRIANA SANCHEZ/AMERICAN-STATESMAN/)
Although Jones has since admitted the killings happened, Heslin noted that an apology, if it were to happen, would not be enough. Jones was not in court during Heslin’s morning testimony, which Heslin said was “cowardly.” He arrived later for part of Lewis’s testimony, accompanied by security guards.
Tuesday was the last scheduled day of testimony.
“Today is very important to me, and it’s been a long time coming ... to face Alex Jones for what he said and did to me. To restore the honor and legacy of my son,” Heslin said, according to The Associated Press.
He noted that when the gunman had trouble reloading, Jesse had urged his classmates to run.
“The gunman’s gun jammed at one point,” Heslin said, according to Law and Crime. “Jesse knew that. Jesse yelled for his classmates to run, and they did. Nine of them are alive today because of his actions ... Jesse died a hero.”
With News Wire Services
