Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Alex Jones arrives hours late to second day of Sandy Hook trial after decrying case as a ‘witch hunt’

Conspiracy theorist had ducked out of court citing ‘medical issues’, while ranting about the case on his TV channel

Bevan Hurley
Wednesday 27 July 2022 16:46 EDT
Comments
Steve Bannon tells Alex Jones he's one of the greatest political thinkers since Founding Fathers

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Infowars founder Alex Jones showed up hours late for day two of his defamation trial on Wednesday, a day after a Texas judge told him off for moaning to media about the case within earshot of the jury.

The trial to determine how much in damages Mr Jones must pay the parents of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims for falsely claiming the attack began on Tuesday.

During a break in opening arguments, Mr Jones began ranting to reporters inside the Travis County Courthouse in Austin that the case was a “witch hunt”, Yahoo News reported.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble reprimanded Mr Jones for the outburst.

Huffington Post reporter Sebastian Murdock, who is covering the trial, tweeted that Mr Jones didn’t turn up for Tuesday’s afternoon session, instead going on Infowars to call on protesters to show up to the courthouse.

Jones wasn’t present in court when the trial resumed on Wednesday morning, and no protesters showed up either, Mr Murdock said.

His lawyer had earlier told the court Jones may miss some of the trial due to “medical issues.”

Jone eventually arrived in time for the post-lunch session - but left after roughly an hour.

The trial proceeded in his absence with cross-examination of an Infowars corporate representative by Mark Bankston, an attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose six-year-old son Jesse was among the 20 children and six adults who were killed in the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Alex Jones was a no-show on day two of his defamation trial in Austin, Texas
Alex Jones was a no-show on day two of his defamation trial in Austin, Texas (Associated Press)

Mr Bankston in opening statements on Tuesday called for punitive damages of $150m to be awarded against Jones.

He accused the conspiracy theorist of a “massive campaign of lies” and recruiting “wild extremists from the fringes of the internet... who were as cruel as Mr Jones wanted them to be”.

Jones also repeatedly failed to turn up to depositions for the defamation proceedings in Connecticut in March.

His attorneys claimed he was too sick to attend due to undisclosed “medical conditions” and that doctors had advised him to remain at home.

After he missed the deposition for a second time, attorneys representing the victims’ families urged the judge to find Jones in contempt of court and have him arrested.

Attorney Christopher Mattei called Mr Jones’ failure to appear a “cowardly attempt” to escape accountability in a statement to The Independent.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in