Alex Jones trial updates: Sandy Hook dad recalls stranger’s vile verbal assault after 4 years of Infowars lies

The third week of Jones’ defamation trial against Sandy Hook families has concluded

Sandy Hook father Robbie Parker testifies in the Alex Jones defamation trial

Alex Jones’s second defamation trial over his “hoax” lies about the Sandy Hook massacre has finished its third week in Connecticut court.

The jury heard emotional testimony from family members after a tense conclusion to the previous week’s proceedings, when the Infowars host delayed his return to the witness box following a rant at reporters outside the courthouse.

His own defence attorneys waived their right to cross-examine him, and he is now expected to resume testimony as a witness for his defence next week.

In his testimony, Jones shouted that he was “done apologising” for his egregious claims about the shooting under questioning from the plaintiffs’ lawyer while families of victims broke down in tears in the courtroom.

On Thursday morning, Sandy Hook father Robbie Parker, who found himself the target of hoax accusations the day after his daughter was murdered, concluded his emotional testimony, recalling a vile verbal assault from a conspiracy theorist, four years after the tragedy. He noted that these occurrences corresponded to when Jones would broadcast his lies.

Key Points

• What’s at stake for Alex Jones in the second Sandy Hook defamation trial?
• Alex Jones defends furious rant in front of crying Sandy Hook families
• Sandy Hook dad recounts harrowing verbal confrontation with Sandy Hook hoaxer
• Sandy Hook father fights tears recalling press event that made him top target for hoax lies
• Sandy Hook mother recalls ‘full-on assault’ of hoax threats in days after shooting
• Jurors must decide how much Newtown families suffering worth

[30 September 2022 07:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Families testify of confrontations with Sandy Hook deniers

A mother who lost one of her sons in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre testified Tuesday that her biggest fear is that people who believe the shooting was a hoax will harm her other son, who survived the attack at his school.

Nicole Hockley and her former husband, Ian Hockley, were the latest family members of the 26 victims of the school shooting to testify at the defamation trial of Alex Jones, where a jury is deciding how much the conspiracy theorist must pay for spreading the hoax lie.

Nicole Hockley said she’s been called an actress and threatened with violence by people who have written to her that her 6-year-old son, Dylan, either never lived or never died.

[30 September 2022 09:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Sandy Hook father weeps recalling being made him top target in Alex Jones’s hoax lies

The grieving father of a victim of the Sandy Hook shooting has broken his silence about the 2012 press conference that made him the top target for Alex Jones’ lies about the massacre.

Robbie Parker’s six-year-old daughter Emilie was one of the 26 students and staff members murdered in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on 14 December 2012.

One day after the massacre, the devastated father gave a brief speech to the media where he paid tribute to his little girl who “made the world a better place” for being in it.

Unbeknownst to Mr Parker at the time, it was the first time any of the victims’ family members had spoken out publicly following their deaths.

As he walked up to the microphone, he briefly smiled – something that instantly made him a target of the conspiracy theorist’s lies.

Rachel Sharp has the full story.

[30 September 2022 11:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Jurors must decide how much Newtown families suffering worth

After watching days of testimony that included the parents of slain children breaking down on the witness stand, a Connecticut jury soon will have the difficult task of coming up with a dollar amount that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay for promoting the idea that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

A judge last year found Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, liable by default for defaming and inflicting emotional distress on the plaintiffs — eight families who lost loved ones in the 2012 massacre and an FBI agent who was among the first responders. The jury of three men and three women is now charged with determining damages.

One by one, family members have taken the stand to talk about the horrors of losing a loved one, and how that has been compounded by a decade of harassment, fear and pain inflicted by those who believed the lie that the shooting never happened.

In often emotional testimony, they have detailed death and rape threats, mail from conspiracy theorists that included photos of dead children and in-person confrontations with people telling them their children or wives or mothers never existed.

At one point, a juror broke into tears and was comforted by another member of the panel.

[30 September 2022 13:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Father cruelly placed at centre of ’ Sandy Hook hoax lies says he felt like he ‘failed’ his slain daughter

The grieving father at the centre of Alex Jones’ Sandy Hook hoax lies has revealed how the far-right conspiracy theorist left him feeling like he “failed” his murdered daughter.

Robbie Parker returned to the witness stand on Thursday to testify in Mr Jones’ defamation trial, as jurors weigh how much he must pay to the families of victims of the 2012 mass shooting for the harassment they suffered because of his lies.

Choking back tears, he told jurors how he believed he was “failing” six-year-old Emilie’s memory as Mr Jones lies continued to spread lies about her.

Rachel Sharp watched Mr Parker’s testimony.