Internet conspiracy theorist Alex Jones admitted the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was “100% real” after previously claiming it was a hoax.
“Especially since I met the parents. It’s 100% real,” the Infowars host told a Texas court on Wednesday.
The trial jurors are listening to the evidence to determine how much Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems owe defaming Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis.
Their son was among 20 students and six teachers killed in the attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
The pair are looking for up to $ 150 million (£ 123.4 million). The final arguments of the case were underway on Wednesday afternoon.
Mark Bankston, attorney for the parents of six-year-old victim Jesse Lewis, accused Jones of approaching the trial in bad faith, citing broadcasts in which he claimed the trial was rigged against him.
He showed a video of Jones saying on his broadcast Friday that the jury pool was full of people who “don’t know what planet they are on”.
Judge Maya Guerra Gamble cautioned Jones on Tuesday for failing to tell the truth under oath after falsely telling the jury that she was bankrupt and respected the discovery of the case.
“It seems absurd to tell you again that you have to tell the truth while you testify,” he said. “Yet here I am.”
Mr. Heslin testified Tuesday that the falsehoods Jones spread to his millions of listeners it made his life “hell” and led to a campaign of harassment and death threats against him by people who believed he lied about his son’s death.
Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis. Image: AP
Ms. Lewis said she believed Jones knew the hoax claims were false, but still spread them because they attracted listeners and helped him market his supplements and other products.
The Sandy Hook tragedy remains the deadliest school shooting in American history.
Read more:
Infowars website seeks bankruptcy protection as founder Alex Jones faces lawsuits
Sandy Hook’s parents tell Infowars founder he made their lives a “living hell” as they face him in court
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sandy Hook’s victim’s mother confronts a conspiracy theorist
Mr. Bankston made holes in Jones’ earlier testimony that he did not have Sandy Hook text messages on his phone.
It led to a dramatic moment in the trial where Mr. Bankston revealed that Jones’s lawyers had “screwed up” and sent him the contents of Jones’s phone by mistake.
“Do you know what perjury is?” Mr. Bankston asked Jones.
