‘Cowardly’ Alex Jones made my life hell, testifies father of Sandy Hook victim
Global News
Alex Jones did not appear in court to see Neil Heslin — father of six-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis — testify about the pain his conspiracy theories caused.
The father of a six-year-old who was killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting testified Tuesday that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was a coward who made his life a living hell.
Jones is currently embroiled in multiple defamation lawsuits over comments he made on his hugely popular far-right talk show Infowars, falsely reporting that the school shooting at Sandy Hook was a hoax and the distraught parents who lost their children that day were crisis actors.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, parents of the late Jesse Lewis, took the stand and recounted living in fear of Jones’ followers after he popularized the Sandy Hook conspiracy theory. Many other parents of Sandy Hook victims allege they suffered the same abuse.
Heslin and Lewis are seeking US$150 million in damages from Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems.
In more than an hour of emotional testimony during which he often fought back tears, Heslin said he has endured online abuse, anonymous phone calls and harassment on the street.
“I can’t even describe the past nine-and-a-half years of hell I have had to endure because of the negligence and recklessness of Alex Jones and the propaganda he has peddled for his own profits and success,” Heslin testified on Tuesday.
“What was said about me and Sandy Hook itself resonates around the world,” he said. “As time went on, I truly realized how dangerous it was. … My life has been threatened. I fear for my life, I fear for my safety.”
Heslin described years of harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers, including an incident when an individual drove past his house firing shots while shouting “Infowars” and “Alex Jones.”
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