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  • Justice Department questions retired FBI agent’s role in $1.4 billion Sandy Hook lawsuit

    A senior U.S. Justice Department official sent a letter to a lawyer for relatives of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, asking pointed questions about a retired FBI agent’s involvement in a defamation lawsuit that led to a $1.4 billion judgment against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.Ed Martin Jr., who leads the Justice Department’s “weaponization working group,” asked in the letter whether retired agent William Aldenberg received any financial benefits from helping to organize the lawsuit, in which he was a plaintiff along with victims’ family members.Aldenberg, like the parents and other relatives of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, has been the subject of false conspiracy theories spread by Jones on his “Infowars” broadcasts.Aldenberg was among the law enforcement officers who responded to the school and found the dead children. That then led to years of abuse from people who believed the shooting was a hoax, he has said. His share of the judgment totaled around $120 million.Martin sends lawyer letter asking about retired agentIn a Sept. 15 letter to Christopher Mattei, a lawyer who represents Sandy Hook families, Martin suggested he was scrutinizing Aldenberg’s role in the lawsuit.“As you may know, there are criminal laws protecting the citizens from actions by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit,” Martin wrote.Mattei responded to the letter in a text message to The Associated Press.“Thanks to the courage of the Sandy Hook families, Infowars will soon be finished,” he said, referring to the families’ efforts in court to liquidate Jones’ assets to help pay the judgment. “In his last gasps, Jones is once again harassing them, only now with the corrupt complicity of at least one DOJ official. It’s as disgusting as it is pathetic, and we will not stand for it.”The Justice Department said it had no immediate comment Tuesday.Martin, who has been examining President Donald Trump’s claims of anti-conservative bias inside the Justice Department, has sent letters to a host of targets in other, unrelated matters, seeking information or making appeals, but it’s unclear whether such requests have amounted to anything.Jones posted a copy of the letter on his X account Tuesday, saying “Breaking! The DOJ’s Task Force On Government Weaponization Against The American People Has Launched An Investigation Into The Democrat Party / FBI Directing Illegal Law-fare Against Alex Jones And Infowars.”Retired agent testified at the trialAldenberg joined the relatives of eight Sandy Hook victims in suing Jones, alleging defamation and infliction of emotional distress.Aldenberg was one of the first witnesses to testify at the trial in 2022. He broke down on the witness stand as he described entering the two classrooms where children and educators were shot.He also testified about how he and others in the community and law enforcement were targeted with threats and conspiracy theories, including one that claimed he was an actor who also pretended to be the father of a victim.Messages were left at a phone listing and email addresses listed for Aldenberg in public records.Relatives of the shooting victims testified that they were subjected to violent threats, in-person harassment and abusive comments on social media because of Jones.Martin has been serving as head of the Justice Department’s “weaponization working group” since his nomination for top federal prosecutor in Washington was pulled amid bipartisan concerns about his modest legal experience and his advocacy for Jan. 6 rioters.Attorney General Pam Bondi created the group to scrutinize matters in which conservatives have claimed they were unfairly targeted or treated.Martin was also recently named a special prosecutor to help conduct the separate mortgage fraud investigations into Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff.In his letter to Mattei, he asked for several pieces of information and requested that the lawyer respond by Sept. 29.In the letter, Martin asks Mattei to keep the correspondence confidential because “I do not wish to litigate this in the media.” On Sept. 14, Jones posted a photo on his X account of him and Martin together, saying the two met in Washington, D.C.Jones recently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his appeal of the $1.4 billion judgment. He also is appealing a $49 million judgment in a similar lawsuit in Texas filed by two other parents of children killed in Newtown. He has cited free speech rights, but he has acknowledged that the shooting was “100% real.”Jones claims Democrats have been targeting him for his speech.He filed for bankruptcy in late 2022. The Sandy Hook plaintiffs are now trying to liquidate Infowars’ assets in state court proceedings in Texas.

    A senior U.S. Justice Department official sent a letter to a lawyer for relatives of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, asking pointed questions about a retired FBI agent’s involvement in a defamation lawsuit that led to a $1.4 billion judgment against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

    Ed Martin Jr., who leads the Justice Department’s “weaponization working group,” asked in the letter whether retired agent William Aldenberg received any financial benefits from helping to organize the lawsuit, in which he was a plaintiff along with victims’ family members.

    Aldenberg, like the parents and other relatives of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, has been the subject of false conspiracy theories spread by Jones on his “Infowars” broadcasts.

    Aldenberg was among the law enforcement officers who responded to the school and found the dead children. That then led to years of abuse from people who believed the shooting was a hoax, he has said. His share of the judgment totaled around $120 million.

    Martin sends lawyer letter asking about retired agent

    In a Sept. 15 letter to Christopher Mattei, a lawyer who represents Sandy Hook families, Martin suggested he was scrutinizing Aldenberg’s role in the lawsuit.

    “As you may know, there are criminal laws protecting the citizens from actions by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit,” Martin wrote.

    Mattei responded to the letter in a text message to The Associated Press.

    “Thanks to the courage of the Sandy Hook families, Infowars will soon be finished,” he said, referring to the families’ efforts in court to liquidate Jones’ assets to help pay the judgment. “In his last gasps, Jones is once again harassing them, only now with the corrupt complicity of at least one DOJ official. It’s as disgusting as it is pathetic, and we will not stand for it.”

    The Justice Department said it had no immediate comment Tuesday.

    Martin, who has been examining President Donald Trump’s claims of anti-conservative bias inside the Justice Department, has sent letters to a host of targets in other, unrelated matters, seeking information or making appeals, but it’s unclear whether such requests have amounted to anything.

    Jones posted a copy of the letter on his X account Tuesday, saying “Breaking! The DOJ’s Task Force On Government Weaponization Against The American People Has Launched An Investigation Into The Democrat Party / FBI Directing Illegal Law-fare Against Alex Jones And Infowars.”

    Retired agent testified at the trial

    Aldenberg joined the relatives of eight Sandy Hook victims in suing Jones, alleging defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

    Aldenberg was one of the first witnesses to testify at the trial in 2022. He broke down on the witness stand as he described entering the two classrooms where children and educators were shot.

    He also testified about how he and others in the community and law enforcement were targeted with threats and conspiracy theories, including one that claimed he was an actor who also pretended to be the father of a victim.

    Messages were left at a phone listing and email addresses listed for Aldenberg in public records.

    Relatives of the shooting victims testified that they were subjected to violent threats, in-person harassment and abusive comments on social media because of Jones.

    Martin has been serving as head of the Justice Department’s “weaponization working group” since his nomination for top federal prosecutor in Washington was pulled amid bipartisan concerns about his modest legal experience and his advocacy for Jan. 6 rioters.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi created the group to scrutinize matters in which conservatives have claimed they were unfairly targeted or treated.

    Martin was also recently named a special prosecutor to help conduct the separate mortgage fraud investigations into Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff.

    In his letter to Mattei, he asked for several pieces of information and requested that the lawyer respond by Sept. 29.

    In the letter, Martin asks Mattei to keep the correspondence confidential because “I do not wish to litigate this in the media.” On Sept. 14, Jones posted a photo on his X account of him and Martin together, saying the two met in Washington, D.C.

    Jones recently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his appeal of the $1.4 billion judgment. He also is appealing a $49 million judgment in a similar lawsuit in Texas filed by two other parents of children killed in Newtown. He has cited free speech rights, but he has acknowledged that the shooting was “100% real.”

    Jones claims Democrats have been targeting him for his speech.

    He filed for bankruptcy in late 2022. The Sandy Hook plaintiffs are now trying to liquidate Infowars’ assets in state court proceedings in Texas.

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  • More Minnesota schools embracing

    It’s a topic that’s top of mind for many parents and teachers right now: How can we ensure our children are safe at school?

    For some Minnesota school districts, one answer comes from a nonprofit started after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

    Reminders are posted in the halls of St. Francis Middle School: “Say Something.”

    “There’s signs all over the school about it that have the phone number and like there’s a QR code,” said student Beverly Shepherd Flores.

    The idea behind the anonymous reporting system: see it, report it. 

    “If students are having, you know, some problems with their mental health and you feel that a student is unsafe, then you can use the app to, you know, get help from a trusted adult, or you know, really any issues that could cause the student mental or physical harm,” said student Addison Cain.

    These eighth graders say classmates value the anonymity.

    “That was like I think a big thing for some students because they don’t want to like start anything with anyone,” said student Adriana Osei. “And you just like say what’s happening, the student, everything and the somebody handles it.”

    School leaders implemented the program three years ago. It’s offered by Sandy Hook Promise at no cost to districts.

    “With a free tip line that we can use it to prevent any kind of school violence, whether that’s self-harm or bullying or fighting or, you know, something more tragic,” said Chris Lindquist, St. Francis Area Schools’ director of community education. “At least we have an opportunity to have kids take a real investment in their own safety and their own security and the culture of our buildings, and to look out for one another.”

    Eight districts representing 100 schools in Minnesota use the Say Something program. Across the country, that number climbs.

    “More than 8 million youth and adults have been trained in the system, and so they know how to identify warning signs and report them,” said Crystal Garrant, Sandy Hook Promise’s chief program officer. “And since inception, more than 320,000 tips have been reported anonymously through our anonymous reporting system.”

    And Garrant says they’re seeing results.

    “We’ve averted at least 18 school shootings,” Garrant said. “These have been tips, we were the first to be notified of the information. There was a detailed plan of attack, and weapons were before recovered. Credible shootings prevented through our efforts.”

    In St. Francis, they’re seeing results, too — building upon relationships educators have with students and offering another option to say something.

    “If we get a tip that maybe we wouldn’t have because of the culture that we’re creating here, which is, say something, reach out, ask for help,” said principal Heidi Critchley. “The more we can do that, the more we can help people receive the assistance that they need, the more that we’re going to intervene for and maybe stop something major from happening.”

    “A lot of the tips we get that are life safety don’t come during the day. They come at night. They come in the evenings, they come at 2 in the morning,” Lindquist said. “They come when kids are really in crisis and when they don’t have an adult that they can lean on to support them.”

    They say having the information, big or small, allows them to act.

    “We’re checking in with the families, checking in with the students when all of these come in to make sure that they’re OK, or what do they need, what do their families need,” said school counselor Lindsay Pakola.

    And allows the school to better support students.

    “Most of the time there’s a plan, and most of the time when we have a school shooting or a major violent, critical incident, most of the time somebody else knows something,” Lindquist said. “And so you know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

    Shepherd Flores, Cain and Osei are also part of a club called WEB, short for “Where Everybody Belongs.” It pairs eighth graders with incoming sixth graders to welcome them and build trust throughout the school year. 

    Folded into WEB are initiatives behind SAVE Promise Clubs or Students Against Violence Everywhere.

    SandyHookPromise.org has all the information you need to know about setting up a club or utilizing the Say Something program. It all comes at no cost to the school district.

    Jennifer Mayerle

    Jennifer Mayerle happily returned to Minnesota and WCCO, where she began her career as a summer intern. The Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist returned to WCCO as a reporter in 2014 and later also anchored WCCO Saturday Morning for 6 years. Then in early 2024 she focused on her new role as Senior Investigative Reporter.

    Jennifer Mayerle

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  • How does Minnesota’s red flag law work?

    A mom who lost her son in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, 13 years ago, and is now the CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, says red flag laws can help save lives.

    “We advocate for things like extreme risk protection orders which in time we’ll figure out if that could have been used here to help prevent this tragedy,” Nicole Hockley said.

    Minnesota does have a red flag Law. It allows family, law enforcement or city and county attorneys to ask for an Extreme Risk Protection Order or ERPO. The law is designed to take guns out of the hands of people in a moment of crisis. They can petition the court to have a person’s guns removed or to temporarily prohibit someone from buying a gun for a period of time

    In the first year of the law in Minnesota, which was 2024, 138 petitions were filed for people who were at risk of hurting themselves or someone else. A judge granted a petition to remove a gun or restrict the ability to buy one most of the time. It ranged from 14 days to one year. Some of those have been extended. 

    A family member, usually who lives in the same house, can file a petition. It can also be a parent or child. It extends to law enforcement and a county or city attorney. A family member can bring their concerns to law enforcement to have them do it. That’s the most common way a petition has been filed and approved. 

    In 2024, the first year someone could raise a red flag, we discovered 5 instances where a petition was filed on someone who threatened to shoot people at a school or daycare, or mentioned a school shooting or shooter. Some of the threats were in person, others caught online. In these cases, we found they were all filed by police or a county attorney’s office. An ERPO was granted for the longest allowed time: one year. 

    One has been extended a year. In two of the cases, criminal charges were brought, and both people were convicted of threats of violence. One person was civilly committed following the petition. 

    Lawmakers say the goal of the red flag law is to save lives. Experts in this area say they believe this law is saving lives. Earlier this year, we spoke with Dr. Jillian Peterson, director of the Violence Prevention Project Research Center.  

    “There’s so many warning signs, especially if we look at school shooters. 91% of the time they tell somebody that they’re planning on doing it. And so people know this, but it’s not a crime to say you’re thinking about doing something. And so law enforcement’s hands are tied in a lot of these cases,” said Peterson. “So I think having a resource to get firearms away from that person just in that moment of crisis. And we know you should not have immediate access to firearms in that moment. 100% I think it has the ability to save lives.”

    If someone is in immediate danger, experts say to call 911.

    Here are resources to learn more about Minnesota’s red flag law.

    Jennifer Mayerle

    Jennifer Mayerle happily returned to Minnesota and WCCO, where she began her career as a summer intern. The Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist returned to WCCO as a reporter in 2014 and later also anchored WCCO Saturday Morning for 6 years. Then in early 2024 she focused on her new role as Senior Investigative Reporter.

    Jennifer Mayerle

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  • Mom of Sandy Hook shooting victim says Minneapolis Catholic school attack was preventable

    As everyone navigates through life following Wednesday morning’s mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, people are turning to those who have been through it for advice.

    Nicole Hockley lost her son Dylan 13 years ago in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty first-grade students and six educators were killed in the incident, igniting a movement in our country that has snowballed since.

    “I always want to talk about my son,” Hockley told WCCO. “He was incredibly cuddly and loved to laugh and giggle. He admired and adored his older brother, Jake. He ate fish fingers and garlic bread all the time, and loved chocolate and the color purple. I only had six years with him, but he’s still with me in my heart every single day.”

    WCCO asked Hockley what helped her in the first few weeks and months following the shooting.    

    “Healing is an interesting word and one I don’t tend to use a lot because I’m nearly 13 years after Dylan’s murder and I am not healed, and I don’t think I ever will be healed. It’s about moving through and forward, not moving on,” she said. “I think the things that I remember being helpful are friends who were able to hold me up and support me. Whether it was a meal train, whether it was taking me to the florist to choose flowers for Dylan’s memorial service or his urn. Getting relatives in and offering homes for people to stay at. If it hadn’t been for friends taking charge to lead things, like his funeral, I had no idea what to do, where to go. You can’t think in those times.”

    Hockley is the CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, a group that is changing laws and advocating for training. She says Wednesday’s shooting was preventable.

    “I do have significant outage that this keeps happening, especially because there are so many solutions to prevent these acts, and this school shooting was a preventable tragedy, as was sandy hook, as was almost every single school shooting you can think of, and the fact that we have the solutions but dont necissarily have the courage or will to put them into place across the country is frustrating. I get outraged as well when people just point to politicians not doing their jobs. I don’t think this is just about policy. I think this is about all of us. And whether that’s advocating for policy change, violence prevention programs in school, recognizing warning signs and saying something, we all have a role to play. If we’re left in hopelessness or thinking someone else is going to take care of it, then we are allowing this problem to continue. Our children are dying, and if that can’t compel you to action, I’m not quite sure what would.”

    Hockley says Sandy Hook Promise advocates for extreme risk protection orders. That allows certain people to request an order from the court to temporarily stop someone from purchasing or possessing a firearm during a period of crisis when they can hurt themselves or others. She said time will tell whether that could have been used to help prevent Wednesday’s shooting.

    “We also advocate for suicide prevention and school violence prevention,” she said. “We’ve been incredibly successful. We’ve stopped, as a direct result of our training, 18 school shootings already, but then, things like yesterday [Wednesday] happen, and we realize that no matter how fast and hard we work, we still have a long way to go to keep all children safe.”

    She added that someone knew the shooter needed help and was in crisis.

    “Helping people understand what the signs are and that they need to act immediately and to take it seriously and to tell someone when they see it, that could have prevented this,” Hockley said.

    35 million people in the U.S. have been through training with Sandy Hook Promise. 

    Erin Hassanzadeh

    Erin is a co-host of “The 4” on WCCO and a two-time Emmy Award-winning reporter passionate about experiential storytelling and taking viewers on an adventure – be it inside a bear den, at the bottom of a lake, or in an underground storm drain tunnel.

    Erin Hassanzadeh

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  • Aaron Rodgers, RFK Jr.’s Potential VP Pick, Allegedly Said Sandy Hook Was a Hoax

    Aaron Rodgers, RFK Jr.’s Potential VP Pick, Allegedly Said Sandy Hook Was a Hoax

    Earlier this week, we learned that Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is in the running to be Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate. And now, we’ve incidentally learned another thing about the football player: that he has allegedly claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, which left 20 children and 6 adults dead, was a hoax.

    CNN reports that at the 2013 Kentucky Derby, Rodgers told journalist Pamela Brown that the massacre was an inside job by the government and that the media was covering up the true story. Asked by Brown for evidence Rodgers allegedly “began sharing various theories that have been disproven numerous times,” including ones that got conspiracy theorist Alex Jones sued, like that the shooting was staged and the first responders were actually “crisis actors.” (In 2022, a jury ordered Jones to fork over $965 million for his lies, a debt which he has yet to pay.) According to Brown, Rodgers said there were government operatives in the woods by the school.

    In addition to Brown, another individual—who CNN granted anonymity—said that Rodgers told her several years ago: “Sandy Hook never happened…All those children never existed. They were all actors.” He also allegedly claimed the grieving parents were “making it up,” and that they too were actors.

    In a post on X published Thursday, Rodgers wrote “…what happened in Sandy Hook was an absolute tragedy. I am not and have never been of the opinion that the events did not take place.”

    X content

    This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

    On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that RFK Jr. had been speaking “pretty continuously” with Rodgers over the last month about the prospect of becoming the independent candidate’s VP, and that Rodgers “welcomed the overtures.” The following day, the Kennedy campaign said he would officially announce his running mate on March 26. Like Kennedy, Rodgers is an anti-vaxxer who attacked public health measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Kennedy himself does not appear to have commented on Sandy Hook, he has said completely unhinged things about 9/11, COVID-19 “ethnically targeting” certain races and sparing others, and chemicals in water making kids transgender. He also once suggested that the adversity faced by anti-vaxxers is worse than what Anne Frank went through.

    Bess Levin

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  • Alex Jones proposes $55 million legal debt settlement to Sandy Hook families

    Alex Jones proposes $55 million legal debt settlement to Sandy Hook families

    Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ latest bankruptcy plan would pay Sandy Hook families a minimum total of $55 million over 10 years, a fraction of the nearly $1.5 billion awarded to the relatives in lawsuits against Jones for calling the 2012 Newtown school shooting a hoax.

    The families, meanwhile, have filed their own proposal seeking to liquidate nearly all of Jones’ assets, including his media company Free Speech Systems, and give the proceeds to them and other creditors.

    The dueling plans, filed late Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, will be debated and challenged over the next two months, with hearings scheduled for February that will result in a final order saying how much Jones will have to pay out.

    Jones and Free Speech Systems, based in Austin, Texas, both filed for bankruptcy last year as the families were awarded more than $1.4 billion in a Connecticut lawsuit and another $50 million in a Texas lawsuit. A third trial is pending in Texas in a similar lawsuit over Jones’ hoax conspiracy filed by the parents of another child killed in the school shooting.

    The new bankruptcy filings came a day after the 11th anniversary of a gunman’s killing of 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

    Relatives of some of the victims sued Jones in Connecticut for defamation and infliction of emotional distress for claiming the school shooting never happened and was staged by “crisis actors” in a plot to increase gun control.

    Eight victims’ relatives and an FBI agent testified during a monthlong trial in late 2022 about being threatened and harassed for years by people who deny the shooting happened. Strangers showed up at some of their homes and confronted some of them in public. People hurled abusive comments at them on social media and in emails. Some received death and rape threats.

    Jones’ lawyers did not immediately respond to email messages Saturday.

    Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut attorney for the Sandy Hook families, said Jones’ proposal “falls woefully short” of providing everything the families are entitled to under bankruptcy laws.

    “The families’ plan is the only feasible path for ensuring that Jones’ assets are quickly distributed to those he has harassed for more than a decade,” Mattei said in a statement Saturday.

    Jones’ new proposal to settle with the families for at least $5.5 million a year for 10 years doesn’t appear to offer much more than what Free Speech Systems offered them in its bankruptcy case last month. He also would give them percentages of his income streams.

    Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Jones’ Infowars show, proposed to pay creditors about $4 million a year, down from an estimate earlier this year of $7 million to $10 million annually.

    The company said it expected to make about $19.2 million next year from selling the dietary supplements, clothing and other merchandise Jones promotes on his shows, while operating expenses including salaries would total about $14.3 million.

    Personally, Jones listed about $13 million in total assets in recent financial statements filed with the bankruptcy court, including about $856,000 in various bank accounts. A judge recently gave Jones approval to sell some of his assets, including guns, vehicles and jewelry to raise money for creditors.

    The families’ plan would set up a trust that would liquidate nearly all of Jones’ assets, except his primary home and other holdings considered exempt from sale under bankruptcy laws. The trust would have sweeping powers, including authority to recoup money that Jones has paid and given others if those transfers were not allowed by law.

    The families have been complaining about Jones’ personal spending, which topped $90,000 a month this year. They also have another pending lawsuit claiming Jones hid millions of dollars in an attempt to protect his wealth. One of Jones’ lawyers has called the allegations “ridiculous.”

    Jones is appealing the $1.5 billion in lawsuit awards to the families and has insisted his comments about the shooting were protected by free speech rights.

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  • Alex Jones Makes Low-Ball Offer to Sandy Hook Families: $55 Million Over A Decade

    Alex Jones Makes Low-Ball Offer to Sandy Hook Families: $55 Million Over A Decade

    Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is proposing to pay pennies on the dollar—just 4%—of the $1.4 billion owed to the Sandy Hook families who successfully sued him for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress after he repeatedly claimed the 2012 Newtown school massacre was a hoax using “crisis actors” to boost gun control legislation.

    The proposal, filed Friday night in a Houston bankruptcy court, would have Jones pay $55 million over ten years. It came just a day after the 11th anniversary of the Connecticut mass shooting, which took the lives of 20 first-graders and six educators.

    The families filed a competing payment plan in court, seeking to liquidate all of Jones’ assets and distribute them among the families. While Jones’ plan would allow him to be released of his debt after a decade, the family’s plan would not, effectively ensuring that Jones would have to continue to pay out parts of the judgment for the rest of his life.

    Jones declared bankruptcy in late 2022, citing the extent of the damages, but a judge ruled in October that Jones couldn’t use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying families, and was still liable for $1.1 billion of the original punishment. Jones is still appealing the original judgment.

    “Today is the first time Mr. Jones has publicly shared his plan to be accountable for the harm he’s caused these families,” Avi Moshenberg, a lawyer representing victims’ family members who sued Jones in Texas, told The New York Times. “We’re very focused on the families receiving what is fair, and will share our review of Jones’s plan in due time.”

    Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut attorney representing the families, said Jones’ proposal “falls woefully short” of what his clients are entitled to under the law. “The families’ plan is the only feasible path for ensuring that Jones’ assets are quickly distributed to those he has harassed for more than a decade,” he said in a statement Saturday.

    Jones spent years profiting off lies about the shooting while grieving families of the victims faced death threats as Infowars, Jones’ fake news company, raked in millions of dollars.

    As the bankruptcy proceedings drag on, families have pointed to Jones’ opulent post-bankruptcy lifestyle, with reports showing the conspiracist spending $100,000 a month. In a filing in bankruptcy court last month, the families argued that Jones “has refused to adhere to a reasonable budget.”

    A Texas judge is expected to hold hearings in late February to determine a final bankruptcy plan.

    Last week, Elon Musk reinstated Jones’ account on Twitter, formerly X. In an appearance on an X livestream hosted by Musk, Jones continued to deny responsibility for the harassment and abuse experienced by the Sandy Hook families, insisting that he was just playing “devil’s advocate” in his comments on the shooting.

    Jack McCordick

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  • Alex Jones Offers To Pay Sandy Hook Families $55 Million For Lies He Spread About Shooting

    Alex Jones Offers To Pay Sandy Hook Families $55 Million For Lies He Spread About Shooting

    Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ latest bankruptcy plan would pay Sandy Hook families a minimum total of $55 million over 10 years, a fraction of the $1.5 billion awarded to the relatives in lawsuits against Jones for calling the 2012 Newtown school shooting a hoax.

    The families, meanwhile, have filed their own proposal seeking to liquidate nearly all of Jones’ assets, including his media company Free Speech Systems, and give the proceeds to them and other creditors.

    The dueling plans, filed late Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, will be debated and challenged over the next two months, with hearings scheduled for February that will result in a final order saying how much Jones will have to pay out.

    Jones and Free Speech Systems, based in Austin, Texas, both filed for bankruptcy last year as the families were awarded more than $1.4 billion in a Connecticut lawsuit and another $50 million in a Texas lawsuit. A third trial is pending in Texas in a similar lawsuit over Jones’ hoax conspiracy filed by the parents of another child killed in the school shooting.

    The new bankruptcy filings came a day after the 11th anniversary of a gunman’s killing of 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

    Relatives of some of the victims sued Jones in Connecticut for defamation and infliction of emotional distress for claiming the school shooting never happened and was staged by “crisis actors” in a plot to increase gun control.

    Eight victims’ relatives and an FBI agent testified during a monthlong trial in late 2022 about being threatened and harassed for years by people who deny the shooting happened. Strangers showed up at some of their homes and confronted some of them in public. People hurled abusive comments at them on social media and in emails. Some received death and rape threats.

    Jones’ lawyers did not immediately respond to email messages Saturday.

    Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut attorney for the Sandy Hook families, said Jones’ proposal “falls woefully short” of providing everything the families are entitled to under bankruptcy laws.

    “The families’ plan is the only feasible path for ensuring that Jones’ assets are quickly distributed to those he has harassed for more than a decade,” Mattei said in a statement Saturday.

    Jones’ new proposal to settle with the families for at least $5.5 million a year for 10 years doesn’t appear to offer much more than what Free Speech Systems offered them in its bankruptcy case last month. He also would give them percentages of his income streams.

    Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Jones’ Infowars show, proposed to pay creditors about $4 million a year, down from an estimate earlier this year of $7 million to $10 million annually.

    The company said it expected to make about $19.2 million next year from selling the dietary supplements, clothing and other merchandise Jones promotes on his shows, while operating expenses including salaries would total about $14.3 million.

    Personally, Jones listed about $13 million in total assets in recent financial statements filed with the bankruptcy court, including about $856,000 in various bank accounts. A judge recently gave Jones approval to sell some of his assets, including guns, vehicles and jewelry to raise money for creditors.

    The families’ plan would set up a trust that would liquidate nearly all of Jones’ assets, except his primary home and other holdings considered exempt from sale under bankruptcy laws. The trust would have sweeping powers, including authority to recoup money that Jones has paid and given others if those transfers were not allowed by law.

    The families have been complaining about Jones’ personal spending, which topped $90,000 a month this year. They also have another pending lawsuit claiming Jones hid millions of dollars in an attempt to protect his wealth. One of Jones’ lawyers has called the allegations “ridiculous.”

    Jones is appealing the $1.5 billion in lawsuit awards to the families and has insisted his comments about the shooting were protected by free speech rights.

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  • ‘We Should Not Have To Live Like This’: Biden Marks 11 Years Since Sandy Hook

    ‘We Should Not Have To Live Like This’: Biden Marks 11 Years Since Sandy Hook

    The nation came to a collective halt when a man wielding a “weapon of war” fatally shot 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School within a matter of minutes, yet 11 years later, the problem of gun violence “is still not solved,” President Joe Biden said Thursday on the anniversary of the tragedy.

    “Today, those first grade students should be seniors in high school, dreaming big and about to embark on their adult lives,” Biden said in a statement reflecting on the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut, which killed 20 children and six adult educators.

    “We should not have to live like this,“ he continued. “It is a national tragedy that over a decade later our nation’s gun violence epidemic is still not solved.”

    A bus drives past a sign reading “Welcome to Sandy Hook” in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 people were fatally shot at an elementary school in 2012.

    Biden, who has continually pressed Congress to take meaningful action to curb gun violence, once again on Thursday urged lawmakers to pass universal background checks and ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

    Last year — following a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two adults, and a shooting at a New York supermarket that killed 10 people — he signed what was then the first major gun safety legislation that had been passed by Congress in nearly 30 years.

    The bill, which Biden and his allies said didn’t go far enough, included incentives for states to pass “red flag” laws and expanded an existing law preventing people convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun.

    Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who had advocated for the legislation, shared photos of the Sandy Hook victims in a social media post Thursday, pleading for help in “creating a nation where this never ever happens again.”

    So far this year, there have been 37 school shootings in the U.S. that resulted in injuries or deaths, according to an analysis by Education Week. The highest annual figure tallied by the news outlet, since its tracking began in 2018, was 51 last year.

    “It doesn’t have to be this way,” Mark Barden, who co-founded the Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund after his son Daniel was killed in the 2012 attack, said in a statement on the 11th anniversary.

    “Gun violence is preventable – which is why we continue to have tough, solution-oriented conversations with elected officials on both sides of the aisle. We must demand action so that we don’t pass this public health epidemic down to the next generation,” he said.

    A mourner visits the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
    A mourner visits the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

    John Moore via Getty Images

    Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit established by victims’ families to fight gun violence, said that today it hopes to get people to speak up about any potential attack before it can come to fruition.

    “In four out of five school shootings, at least one other person had knowledge of the attacker’s plan but failed to report it,” the organization said. “Sandy Hook Promise is shifting public awareness, emphasizing that ‘gun violence is preventable when you know the signs.’”

    Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

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  • Sandy Hook School Shootings Fast Facts | CNN

    Sandy Hook School Shootings Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. On December 14, 2012, six adults and 20 children were killed by Adam Lanza, who had earlier killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, in their home.

    Birth date: April 22, 1992

    Death date: December 14, 2012

    Birth place: Kingston, New Hampshire

    Birth name: Adam Lanza

    Father: Peter Lanza, an accountant

    Mother: Nancy (Champion) Lanza

    Lanza’s parents were divorced in September 2009.

    A 2014 report by the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate described Lanza as a young man with deteriorating mental health who had a fascination with mass shootings.

    Weapons found at the scene were legally purchased by Nancy Lanza.

    Lanza used a Bushmaster Model XM15-E2S rifle during the shooting spree. Three weapons were found next to his body; the semiautomatic .223-caliber rifle made by Bushmaster, and two handguns. An Izhmash Saiga-12, 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun was found in his car.

    December 14, 2012 – At an unknown time, 20-year-old Adam Lanza kills his mother Nancy, 52, with a .22 caliber Savage Mark II rifle. Lanza then drives his mother’s car to Sandy Hook Elementary, about five miles away.

    At approximately 9:30 a.m., Lanza arrives at Sandy Hook Elementary, a school with about 700 students. The principal, Dawn Hochsprung, had installed a new security system that required every visitor to ring the front entrance’s doorbell for admittance. Lanza shoots his way through the entrance.

    Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach step out to the hall to see what is going on, and are followed by Vice Principal Natalie Hammond. Hochsprung and Sherlach are killed, and Hammond is injured.

    The first 911 calls to police are made at approximately 9:30 a.m. Police and first responders arrive approximately five minutes later.

    Lanza enters the classroom of substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau. Lanza kills 14 children as well as Rousseau and a teacher’s aide.

    He then enters the classroom of teacher Victoria Soto. Six children in the room, as well as Soto and a teacher’s aide, are killed. Lanza dies by suicide in the same classroom, ending the rampage in less than 11 minutes.

    At about 3:15 p.m., an emotional President Barack Obama gives a televised address, “We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.” He orders flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and other federal buildings.

    December 15, 2012 – Connecticut State Police release the names of the victims: six adult women and 12 girls and eight boys, all ages six and seven.

    December 16, 2012 – Obama visits with the relatives of those who were killed. He also attends an interfaith vigil. “We can’t tolerate this anymore,” he says. “These tragedies must end, and to end them we must change.”

    December 17, 2012 – Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy announces a statewide moment of silence on December 21. He also requests that bells be tolled 26 times in memory of the victims.

    December 18, 2012 – Newtown Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson announces Sandy Hook students will remain out of school until January. At that time, they will be taught in a converted middle school.

    January 8, 2013 – Malloy announces the names of the people who will serve on the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, to review current policy and make recommendations on public safety, mental health and violence prevention policies.

    March 2013 – A new police report reveals Lanza possessed a list of 500 of the world’s most notorious mass murderers, and was trying to rack up the greatest number of kills in history.

    November 25, 2013 – Connecticut state officials release a report closing the investigation into the shooting and confirm that Lanza had no assistance and was the only shooter.

    December 4, 2013 – Audio recordings of the 911 calls from Sandy Hook Elementary are released.

    December 27, 2013 – The final report on the investigation into the shooting is released.

    November 21, 2014 – The Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate, as directed by the State Child Fatality Review Panel, releases a report profiling Lanza’s developmental and educational history. The report notes “missed opportunities” by Lanza’s mother, the school district and multiple health care providers. It identifies “warning signs, red flags, or other lessons” that could be learned.

    December 15, 2014 – The families of nine children killed, along with one teacher who survived the attack, file a wrongful death suit against the manufacturers and distributors of the Bushmaster rifle, as well as the retail store and dealer who sold the firearm used in the shooting.

    March 6, 2015 – The final report of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission is released.

    December 17, 2015 – In a final agreement, 16 plaintiffs will share in a $1.5 million settlement against the estate of Nancy Lanza. The plaintiffs are from eight separate lawsuits filed in early 2015.

    April 14, 2016 – A superior court judge rules that the wrongful death suit against gun manufacturers can proceed. The judge denies a motion to dismiss the case on the basis that firearms companies have limited liability when their products are used by criminals, according to a federal law passed in 2005.

    October 14, 2016 – Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis dismisses a lawsuit that families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims had filed against a gun manufacturer, invoking a federal statute known as PLCAA, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The law prohibits lawsuits against gun manufacturers and distributors if their firearms were used in the commission of a criminal act.

    November 15, 2016 – The Sandy Hook families file an appeal, asking the Connecticut Supreme Court to consider their case against the gun manufacturer.

    March 14, 2019 – The Connecticut Supreme Court rules that the families of the Sandy Hook victims can go forward with their lawsuit against Remington, which makes the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle used in the shooting.

    April 5, 2019 – Remington files an appeal with the US Supreme Court, asking the high court to decide on the state’s interpretation of a federal statute that grants gun manufacturers immunity from any lawsuit related to injuries that result from criminal misuse of their product.

    November 12, 2019 – The US Supreme Court declines to take up the Remington appeal.

    July 27, 2021 – Remington offers nearly $33 million to nine families of victims killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in a proposed lawsuit settlement.

    November 15, 2021 – The families suing InfoWars founder Alex Jones win a case against him after a judge rules that Jones, and the entities owned by him, are liable by default in the defamation case against them. Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis cites the defendants’ “willful noncompliance” with the discovery process as her core reasoning behind the ruling. The case stems from past claims that the 2012 mass shooting was staged. Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting was real.

    February 15, 2022 – A settlement is reached between the nine families of victims killed and the now-bankrupt Remington and its four insurers, according to court records. The plaintiffs’ attorneys say the $73 million settlement also includes “thousands of pages of internal company documents that prove Remington’s wrongdoing and carry important lessons for helping to prevent future mass shootings.”

    August 4, 2022 – A jury decides that Jones will have to pay Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim, a little more than $4 million in compensatory damages.

    October 12, 2022 – A Connecticut jury decides Jones should pay eight family members of Sandy Hook shooting victims and one first responder $965 million in compensatory damages caused by his lies regarding the shooting. On November 10, a Connecticut judge orders Jones to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages.

    November 13, 2022 – The Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial, designed by Dan Affleck and Ben Waldo, is unveiled publicly in Newtown, Connecticut.

    October 19, 2023 – A federal bankruptcy judge rules that bankruptcy proceedings will not shield Jones from more than $1.1 billion in damages he owes the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims.

    November 22, 2023 – In a court document, the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims offer Jones a “path out of bankruptcy” if he pays them a “small fraction” of the more than $1 billion he owes in damages, which could help resolve the bankruptcy cases of both Jones and Free Speech Systems. The families suggest Jones pay at least $85 million over 10 years — $8.5 million per year for a decade, in addition to half of any annual income over $9 million, “with a proportionate reduction of liabilities for each year of full payment.”

    The Victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School

    Allison Wyatt, 6
    Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
    Anne Marie Murphy, 52 (Teacher)
    Avielle Richman, 6
    Benjamin Wheeler, 6
    Caroline Previdi, 6
    Catherine Hubbard, 6
    Charlotte Bacon, 6
    Chase Kowalski, 7
    Daniel Barden, 7
    Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, 47 (Principal)
    Dylan Hockley, 6
    Emilie Parker, 6
    Grace McDonnell, 7
    Jack Pinto, 6
    James Mattioli, 6
    Jesse Lewis, 6
    Jessica Rekos, 6
    Josephine Gay, 7
    Lauren Rousseau, 30 (Teacher)
    Madeleine Hsu, 6
    Mary Sherlach, 56 (Psychologist)
    Noah Pozner, 6
    Olivia Engel, 6
    Rachel D’Avino, 29, (Therapist)
    Victoria Soto, 27 (Teacher)

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  • Joe Biden Says ‘We Should Have Societal Guilt’ At 10-Year Sandy Hook Anniversary

    Joe Biden Says ‘We Should Have Societal Guilt’ At 10-Year Sandy Hook Anniversary

    President Joe Biden demanded stronger nationwide gun control laws Wednesday as he marked the 10-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting that violently ended the lives of 20 young children and six educators.

    “We should have societal guilt for taking too long to deal with this problem,” Biden said in a statement. “We have a moral obligation to pass and enforce laws that can prevent these things from happening again.”

    The president declared a day of remembrance to mark the Newtown, Connecticut, mass shooting.

    With a nod to legislation passed over the summer that cracked down on guns with no serial numbers and bulked up resources meant to prevent gun violence, Biden said he was “determined” to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

    “Enough is enough. Our obligation is clear,” Biden said. “We must eliminate these weapons that have no purpose other than to kill people in large numbers.”

    There is no concrete definition of “assault weapons,” but the term generally refers to a category of firearm that includes many semiautomatic rifles designed to hit human targets. Biden has repeatedly called on Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban that was instated as part of a massive 1994 crime bill but allowed to lapse after a decade. Many of the mass shootings over the past several years ― including the one at Sandy Hook ― were carried out using these kinds of weapons.

    Biden said he was “optimistic” that a divided Congress could pass stronger gun control laws, “because I have seen the courage and resolve of the Sandy Hook families.”

    Family members of the slain children and staffers have spent years advocating for gun control, in some cases while they endured attacks from conspiracy theorists who posited the shooting was faked.

    The children who were killed in the attack would now be 16 or 17, thinking about their plans after high school.

    Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organized by several family members of the victims, held an event last week to mark the milestone anniversary with speakers including former President Barack Obama, who was in office at the time.

    “I consider Dec. 14, 2012, the single darkest day of my presidency,” Obama said from the podium in New York City. “Like so many other people, I felt not just sorrow, but I felt angry, fury in a world that could allow such a thing.”

    A vigil last week to honor the victims included comments from a survivor, 17-year-old Jackie Haggerty, who huddled in her classroom across the hall during the shooting.

    “We are asked to be brave while hiding under our desks in our classrooms, while too many elected officials lack the courage to pass common-sense laws to save our lives,” she said.

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  • Ten years since Sandy Hook school massacre: CBS News Flash Dec. 14, 2022

    Ten years since Sandy Hook school massacre: CBS News Flash Dec. 14, 2022

    Ten years since Sandy Hook school massacre: CBS News Flash Dec. 14, 2022 – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Today marks 10 years since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 20 first graders and six educators dead. Lawmakers say they’ve reached a “framework” on a government spending bill as they try to avoid a government shutdown at week’s end. And “The Sandman” — Adam Sandler — will be the recipient of this year’s Mark Twain Prize, one of comedy’s highest honors.

    Be the first to know

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  • The Kid Who Crashed The Game Awards Has A History Of Trolling

    The Kid Who Crashed The Game Awards Has A History Of Trolling

    A kid at the 2022 Game Awards nominates Bill Clinton in the latest internet-pilled viral prank.

    Screenshot: The Game Awards / Kotaku

    Academy Award winner Al Pacino may have opened the 2022 Game Awards, a night of industry recognition and expensive marketing for the biggest games around, but it was a new type of internet celebrity who closed it out. “I want to nominate this award to my reformed Orthodox Rabbi Bill Clinton,” said a young kid with long hair who appeared onstage suddenly after Elden Ring was crowned Game of the Year. He was wearing an ill-fitting coat, sneaking up on stage behind the the Elden Ring development team.

    Security followed, and chaos ensued online as everyone tried to figure out what the hell had just happened during host Geoff Keighley’s otherwise heavily orchestrated three-hour event. But this was far from the first time the young man, whose name Kotaku believes to be Matan Even, had sprung to brief internet fame through internet-pilled trolling, even if it might have been his weirdest.

    After the ceremony finished, Keighley tweeted that the “individual who interrupted” the event had been arrested. Five hours later, however, Even was already tweeting. “Today there is a lot of talk, and speculation,” he wrote. “More information will be released on all fronts sooner than later.”

    When asked about what transpired after the incident, the LAPD media relations office contradicted Keighley’s account, saying a report had been taken but no arrest was made. When asked to square that, a spokesperson for The Game Awards provided a more detailed account.

    G/O Media may get a commission

    They said Even was taken to a “secure area” inside the Microsoft Theater by TGA security staff where he was then questioned by venue security as well as “TGA-hired onsite LAPD officers.” They said he was then taken into custody and transported to a local police station for booking by the TGA-hired LAPD officers in their patrol vehicle. When asked about that version of events, a representative from the LAPD would only confirm that the individual had been transported to a station. Since no arrest was made, it’s unclear how long he was held for questioning.

    While this may be the first time Even risked arrest, it was far from his first publicity stunt. Before stealthing his way on stage at one of the gaming industry’s biggest events of the year in front of an audience of over a million people, Even crashed a BlizzCon panel, went viral for pranking the L.A. Clippers fan cam, and appeared on right-wing conspiracy show Infowars at least twice.

    The Clippers stunt came in October 2019. Amid the Hong Kong protests, Even momentarily appeared on the fan cam at the team’s home stadium, only to immediately hold up a black t-shirt that read, “Fight for Freedom Stand with Hong Kong.” China had blacklisted the Houston Rockets after their general manager tweeted out a picture of the same t-shirt just a couple of weeks earlier.

    The next month, Even interrupted a BlizzCon 2019 panel with a similar message in support of the Hong Kong protests. Blizzard had suspended Overwatch pro Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai the prior month for doing the same, and along with the NBA and other companies, came under fire at the time for its failure to stand up for Hong Kong’s democratic protesters.

    As Motherboard points out, this made Even a ripe target to be co-opted by right-wing political actors who saw the opportunity to attack seeming liberal hypocrisy on the issue. But Even was also apparently already a big fan of at least one of Infowars’ hosts, Owen Shroyer. He said as much in a 2019 appearance, calling Shroyer his “favorite person on Infowars,” while in a second appearance in 2020 Shroyer called Even “one of the young stars of the conservative movement.”

    While Even’s own social media activity appears to be almost exclusively concerned with the Hong Kong protests and censorship by the Chinese government, his journey from protester to Infowars guest is also a perfect example of the ambiently reactionary online pipeline that can lead one from Googling political issues to ending up on right-wing content channels. (Even was seemingly 12 during his first Infowars appearance.) It’s also a reason why some were quick to interpret his nonsensical remarks about Bill Clinton and Orthodox Judaism as potentially antisimetic.

    Prior to last night, Even’s last tweets were from March 2021 and were about concerns over the rise in hate crimes toward Asian Americans. Infowars, meanwhile, has seen founder Alex Jones successfully sued for hundreds of millions by the parents of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims. Most recently, however, the site tried to hold court with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who used the appearance to praise Hitler, a heel turn that comes amid a larger wave of antisemitism in conservative circles.

    It was in front of that backdrop that some worried Even’s stunt was secretly some racist 4Chan deepcut. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who interviewed Even earlier today, said he appeared to understand Hebrew, and called him “almost certainly a Jewish prankster.”

    He’s also disavowing his previous Infowars appearances, even while continuing his trolling in messages with other journalists.

    “I never was an avid viewer [of Infowars] nor am I now,” he told Motherboard. He reportedly went on to call Clinton “a true inspiration, especially in the gaming space.”

                     

    Ethan Gach

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  • Alex Jones seeks new trial after $1 billion Sandy Hook verdict

    Alex Jones seeks new trial after $1 billion Sandy Hook verdict

    Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a Connecticut judge to throw out a nearly $1 billion verdict against him and order a new trial in a lawsuit by Sandy Hook families, who say they were subjected to harassment and threats from Jones’ lies about the 2012 Newtown school shooting.

    Jones filed the requests Friday, saying Judge Barbara Bellis’ pretrial rulings resulted in an unfair trial and “a substantial miscarriage of justice.”

    “Additionally, the amount of the compensatory damages award exceeds any rational relationship to the evidence offered at trial,” Jones’ lawyers, Norm Pattis and Kevin Smith, wrote in the motion.

    Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the 15 plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Jones, declined to comment on the filing Saturday, but said he and other attorneys for the Sandy Hook families will be filing a brief opposing Jones’ request.

    Twenty first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School died in the attack on Dec. 14, 2012.

    An FBI agent who responded to the shooting and relatives of eight children and adults killed in the massacre sued Jones for defamation and infliction of emotional distress over his pushing the bogus narrative that the shooting was a hoax staged by “crisis actors” to impose more gun control.

    Six jurors in Waterbury, Connecticut, ordered Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, on Oct. 12 to pay $965 million in compensatory damages to the plaintiffs and said punitive damages also should be awarded. Bellis has scheduled hearings for early next month to determine the amount of the punitive damages.

    During the trial, victims’ relatives said in often-emotional testimony that they were threatened and harassed for years by people who believed the lies told on Jones’ show. Strangers showed up at the families’ homes to record them and confronted them in public. People hurled abusive comments on social media. Relatives said they received death and rape threats.

    The verdicts came after another jury in Texas in August ordered Jones and his company to pay nearly $50 million in damages to the parents of another slain Sandy Hook child. A third trial over the hoax claims, involving two more Sandy Hook parents, is expected to be held near the end of the year in Texas.

    Jones, who has acknowledged in recent years that the shooting did occur, has blasted the lawsuits and trials on his Austin, Texas-based Infowars show, calling them unfair and a violation of his free speech rights.

    But he lost his right to present those defenses when the judges in Connecticut and Texas found him liable for damages by default without trials, for what they called Jones’ repeated failures to turn over some evidence including financial documents and website analytics to the Sandy Hook lawyers.

    With liability already established, the trials in both states focused only on how much Jones should pay in damages.

    Pattis, Jones’ lawyer, wrote in the motions filed Friday that there was a lack of evidence directly connecting Jones with the people who harassed and threatened the Sandy Hook families. Pattis said the trial resembled a “memorial service, not a trial.”

    “Yes, the families in this case suffered horribly as a result of the murder of their children,” Pattis wrote, adding that Jones did not send people to harass and threaten the families.

    “There was no competent evidence offered at this trial that he ever did,” he wrote. “Instead, there was a shocking abuse of a disciplinary default and its transformation into a series of half-truths that misled a jury and resulted in substantial injustice.” 

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  • Alex Jones Seeks New Trial After $1B Sandy Hook Verdict

    Alex Jones Seeks New Trial After $1B Sandy Hook Verdict

    HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a Connecticut judge to throw out a nearly $1 billion verdict against him and order a new trial in a lawsuit by Sandy Hook families, who say they were subjected to harassment and threats from Jones’ lies about the 2012 Newtown school shooting.

    Jones filed the requests Friday, saying Judge Barbara Bellis’ pretrial rulings resulted in an unfair trial and “a substantial miscarriage of justice.”

    “Additionally, the amount of the compensatory damages award exceeds any rational relationship to the evidence offered at trial,” Jones’ lawyers, Norm Pattis and Kevin Smith, wrote in the motion.

    Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the 15 plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Jones, declined to comment on the filing Saturday, but said he and other attorneys for the Sandy Hook families will be filing a brief opposing Jones’ request.

    Twenty first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School died in the attack on Dec. 14, 2012.

    An FBI agent who responded to the shooting and relatives of eight children and adults killed in the massacre sued Jones for defamation and infliction of emotional distress over his pushing the bogus narrative that the shooting was a hoax staged by “crisis actors” to impose more gun control.

    Six jurors in Waterbury, Connecticut, ordered Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, on Oct. 12 to pay $965 million in compensatory damages to the plaintiffs and said punitive damages also should be awarded. Bellis has scheduled hearings for early next month to determine the amount of the punitive damages.

    During the trial, victims’ relatives said in often-emotional testimony that they were threatened and harassed for years by people who believed the lies told on Jones’ show. Strangers showed up at the families’ homes to record them and confronted them in public. People hurled abusive comments on social media. Relatives said they received death and rape threats.

    The verdicts came after another jury in Texas in August ordered Jones and his company to pay nearly $50 million in damages to the parents of another slain Sandy Hook child. A third trial over the hoax claims, involving two more Sandy Hook parents, is expected to be held near the end of the year in Texas.

    Jones, who has acknowledged in recent years that the shooting did occur, has blasted the lawsuits and trials on his Austin, Texas-based Infowars show, calling them unfair and a violation of his free speech rights.

    But he lost his right to present those defenses when the judges in Connecticut and Texas found him liable for damages by default without trials, for what they called Jones’ repeated failures to turn over some evidence including financial documents and website analytics to the Sandy Hook lawyers.

    With liability already established, the trials in both states focused only on how much Jones should pay in damages.

    Pattis, Jones’ lawyer, wrote in the motions filed Friday that there was a lack of evidence directly connecting Jones with the people who harassed and threatened the Sandy Hook families. Pattis said the trial resembled a “memorial service, not a trial.”

    “Yes, the families in this case suffered horribly as a result of the murder of their children,” Pattis wrote, adding that Jones did not send people to harass and threaten the families.

    “There was no competent evidence offered at this trial that he ever did,” he wrote. “Instead, there was a shocking abuse of a disciplinary default and its transformation into a series of half-truths that misled a jury and resulted in substantial injustice.”

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  • Jury awards nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook families in Alex Jones case | CNN Business

    Jury awards nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook families in Alex Jones case | CNN Business

    (Pool/WFSB)

    Erica Lafferty, the daughter of Sandy Hook Elementary principal Dawn Hochsprung, who was killed during the school shooting, told reporters Wednesday that the verdict against Alex Jones is a moment “years in the making.”

    Lafferty recounted how difficult it was for her and her family to deal with the threats fueled by the conspiracy theories led by Jones.

    “As I was upstairs testifying about the rape threats that were sent to me, Alex Jones was standing right here holding a press conference. After almost a decade of threats and messages from conspiracy theorists led by Jones, this is a moment years in the making,” she said.

    Lafferty went on to say how she wished she could tell call her mother to tell her about the verdict and the years leading up to it.

    “And in this big moment, like in every big moment, since the shooting, I wish I could just call my mom and tell her about it. I would tell her about the horror of watching Alex Jones hold court with the press outside, right here. About the disappointment of so many news outlets who’ve known us since 12-14 run his words unfiltered. The heartbreak of reliving the shooting as so many families shared stories of their slain loved ones. But I would also like to tell her about the bright spots. News stations, like NBC Connecticut, refused to give a dangerous conspiracy theorist a platform throughout this trial, and I thank them. The jury bravely bore witness to our pain, sitting through hours upon hours of testimony that will never leave their minds,” she said.

    Lafferty then thanked the people in her life who were by my side throughout this trial… You guys were my guideposts and my shining lights throughout all of this and I cannot thank you enough for your compassion, extreme expertise, and your friendship. I wish I could tell ,my mom about all of this. I wish I could tell her about so many things that can happen, that have happened since she was murdered. Mostly that I’ll never stop missing her.”

    She added that while she hopes to put this chapter of her life behind her, she and her family are aware of the stain Jones’ actions have left on their lives.

    “I wish that after today, I could just be a daughter grieving her mother and stop worrying about conspiracy theorists sending me threats or worse. But I know that this is not the end of Alex Jones in my life. I know that his hates, his hate, lies and conspiracy theories will follow both me and my family through the rest of our days. But I’m also hopeful for what happened here today. That it may save other families from high-profile tragedies from the cycle of abuse and re-traumatization that we have all been put through as we simply tried to survive the hardest days, weeks, and years of our lives,” Lafferty said.

    She continued, “I’m incredibly proud and thankful for the message that was sent here today. The truth matters. And those who profit off of other people’s pain and trauma will pay for what they have done. There will be more Alex Joneses in this world, but what they learned here today is that they absolutely will be held accountable.”

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  • Sandy Hook parent recounts years of harassment after Alex Jones called him a crisis actor | CNN Business

    Sandy Hook parent recounts years of harassment after Alex Jones called him a crisis actor | CNN Business



    CNN
     — 

    In emotional testimony on Thursday, Robbie Parker, the parent of a Sandy Hook shooting victim, recounted the violent threats and harassment he and his family have suffered in the years since conspiracy theorist Alex Jones called him a crisis actor.

    The day after their six-year-old daughter, Emilie, was murdered in the 2012 shooting, Parker gave a statement to the press. Hours later, Jones was on his InfoWars show describing him as a crisis actor to his audience of millions. (Jones acknowledged that he spoke about Parker by name when he testified earlier during the trial, which is to determine how much he must pay to families of Sandy Hook shooting victims for his lies about the massacre.)

    Later that night, unable to sleep, Parker said he saw the start of a deluge of hateful messages about the press conference on the Facebook memorial page for Emilie. Parker said he removed Emilie’s Facebook memorial page weeks after the shooting because the harassment was too much to control.

    “I felt like I couldn’t protect Emilie’s name, or her memory anymore so I had to get rid of it,” Parker said through tears.

    As days passed and the harassment increased, Parker’s family grew paranoid. They questioned what of Emilie’s life to share with guests during the wake and funeral services. Ultimately, they chose to have a closed casket wake out of concern someone would try to take photos of Emilie’s body or her things, Parker testified.

    “I was paranoid and he was paranoid. Like we just shut down. We were just zombies. I don’t even hardly remember what was said on the day of the funeral,” Alissa Parker said during testimony before her husband. “They stole that from me.”

    Robbie Parker, who has in many ways been the face of Jones’ hoax narrative about the shooting, said he reported the harassment and threats to law enforcement and social media attacks to Facebook and YouTube. “I was like pleading and pleading for their help,” he said. But that didn’t work either, he testified.

    For years, he tried to ignore it, choosing not to engage with the people threatening his family and calling him an actor. “I’d been taught that like, you don’t engage with a bully,” he said. “If somebody’s bullying you, you ignore them and eventually they get tired and they leave you alone. And that had worked for me in my life.”

    The family moved to Washington state in early 2014. Within months of moving, however, Robbie Parker realized the “hoaxers” had found them. He said he saw a YouTube video detailing the sale of their new home and address.

    “And so immediately that sense of security that I thought that we had was totally shattered,” he said. “They would come in these waves and it was almost like I knew when Alex Jones said something because we would get a huge wave of stuff.”

    Through tears, he recalled a man confronting him on the street in Seattle in the fall of 2016, nearly four years after the shooting. Yelling and cursing at him, the man asked him how he could sleep at night and how much he was paid by the government for acting in the hoax.

    Robbie Parker said he confronted the man attempting to defend his family for the first time as a crowd of onlookers gathered. He said he eventually walked away from the heckler, but first he circled the block several times to make sure no one was following him before returning to his family.

    His wife described the change she saw in her husband as the weight of their family’s safety got to him.

    “I would say the most painful is just how it’s changed his view about himself. He felt so much shame. And he felt like it was his fault that all of this happened. And he felt like it was because of him that our family got attacked and all the other families got attacked,” she said.

    The emotional testimony capped off the third week of the trial. Plaintiffs in three Connecticut lawsuits against Jones, including family members of eight school students and employees and one FBI agent who responded to the scene, have all been condensed into the trial.

    The jury has now heard from most of the named plaintiffs in the case and the plaintiffs’ attorneys have indicated they’ll wrap up their case early next week.

    Jones is expected to testify again next week during his own defense case. Then the jury will deliberate to determine how much Jones and the company should pay in damages to each of 15 plaintiffs that say their lives were negatively impacted by his’ hoax coverage of the shooting.

    Judge Barbara Bellis found the defendants liable by default last year largely because Jones and the company did not comply in turning over evidence during the discovery process, according to court filings.

    Robbie Parker had flown back and forth each week to sit in the Connecticut courtroom ahead of his testimony this week. At the beginning of his testimony Wednesday, he said: “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”

    – CNN’s Oliver Darcy contributed to this report.

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