Alex Jones should pay the parents of a boy murdered in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre $150 million for leading a decadelong "massive campaign of lies" about the mass shooting, falsely calling it a "hoax," a lawyer told the jury in Jones' defamation trial on Tuesday.
Jones' "disgusting series of lies" about the deadliest school shooting in United States history caused the harassment and torment of Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who was one of the 26 killed in the rampage, their lawyer said in his opening statement to the Texas jury.
Attorney Mark Bankston, who is representing the parents in the civil case, told the 12-person Travis County District Court jury he will be seeking $150 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages from the Infowars founder and host.
Bankston said about 75 million Americans believe that the Sandy Hook shooting was "definitely or possibly staged" so he wants "one dollar for every one of those people in emotional damage" and another $75 million for the damage to his clients' "reputation."
The attorney called the sum "one that will do justice to the level of harm done in this case — harm that was done to the grieving parents of murdered children who have had to endure for 10 years the most despicable and vile campaign of defamation slander in American history."
During his opening statements, Bankston played several Infowars clips for the jury in which Jones — who lives in Austin, Texas, and was present in the courtroom — can be seen telling his audience that the massacre was a "giant hoax" staged by the government with "actors."
The trial is the first for Sandy Hook families who won defamation lawsuits against Jones last year when courts in Texas and Connecticut found him liable by default after Jones didn't follow court orders in the cases.
The jury in this trial and the others will determine how much money Jones must pay to the Sandy Hook families.
Jones' "massive campaign of lies was accomplished because Mr. Jones recruited wild extremists from fringes of the internet who were willing to be as cruel as Mr. Jones needed them to be," Bankston said.
His lies surrounding the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre caused "severe emotional distress" to Heslin and Lewis and caused them to "continually suffer aggravated mental anguish," he added.
Jones' defense attorney, F. Andino Reynal, acknowledged in his opening statements that his client and Infowars covered the Sandy Hook shooting "with a slant that children were really murdered, but that there's a government cover-up."
Reynal told the jury that Jones "has apologized repeatedly for the coverage he gave to Sandy Hook" and that he "trusted" people who he shouldn't have.
"He was looking at the world through dirty glasses and if you look at the world through dirty glasses everything you see is dirty," said Reynal, who called Jones "one of the most polarizing figures in this nation" but someone he is "honored" to represent.
Jones "regrets what he did and is paying a price for it today," Reynal told the jury as he explained how people have chased his client down in the streets and poured coffee on him.
"Mr. Jones has been canceled, punished for statements that are related to this case — statements we don't dispute were wrong," Reynal said, who added that "the evidence will show that he did not cause the harassment" of Sandy Hook parents.
Outside of the courtroom, Jones told reporters that his trial is a "kangaroo court" and a "witch hunt."
