Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones says jurors in his defamation trial 'don't know what planet they're on'

Mark Bankston, lawyer for the parents of slain six-year-old Jesse Lewis, accused Jones of approaching the trial in bad faith, citing broadcasts where he said the trial was rigged against him

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones attempts to answer questions about his emails asked by Mark Bankston, lawyer for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during trial at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Picture: Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool

WED, 03 AUG, 2022 - 21:42
JACK MCQUEEN

An attorney for the parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook mass shooting showed a video to jurors in the defamation trial of Alex Jones on Wednesday in which the US conspiracy theorist tells his Infowars viewers the jury pool is full of people who "don't know what planet they're on."

Jones, founder of the Infowars radio show and webcast, is on trial in Texas to determine how much he must pay for spreading falsehoods about the killing of 20 children and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012.

Mark Bankston, lawyer for the parents of slain six-year-old Jesse Lewis, accused Jones of approaching the trial in bad faith, citing broadcasts where he said the trial was rigged against him.

Bankston showed a video of Jones saying in his broadcast on Friday that the jury pool was full of people who "don't know what planet they're on".

He also showed jurors an image from Jones's show that Bankston said depicted Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, who is overseeing the case, on fire. Jones responded that the image shows Lady Justice on fire, not Gamble.

Legal team 'messed up' and sent texts to prosecution

In an unusual development, Bankston said during cross-examination on Wednesday that Jones’ legal team had "messed up" and inadvertently sent the plaintiffs' legal team a file containing trial strategy notes and years of texts.

The parents, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, are seeking as much as $150m from Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems LLC. Closing arguments were under way on Wednesday afternoon.

Judge Gamble admonished Jones on Tuesday for not telling the truth under oath after he falsely told the jury he was bankrupt and had complied with discovery in the case.

"It seems absurd to instruct you again that you must tell the truth while you testify," she said. "Yet here I am."

Jones has already been found liable for defamation by Gamble, who issued a rare default judgment against him in 2021.

Jones on Wednesday sought to distance himself from previous falsehoods that the shooting was a hoax, saying it was “crazy” of him to repeatedly make this claim.

Jones, who has previously acknowledged the shooting took place, told jurors that the shooting was “100% real.”

Heslin testified on Tuesday that the falsehoods Jones spread to his millions of listeners made his life “hell” and resulted in a campaign of harassment and death threats against him by people who believed he lied about his son’s death.

Lewis said she believes that Jones knew that the hoax claims were false but spread them anyway because they attracted listeners and helped him market his supplements and other products.

Free Speech Systems declared bankruptcy last week. Jones said during a Monday broadcast that the filing will help the company stay on the air while it appeals.

The Sandy Hook gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, used a Remington Bushmaster rifle to carry out the massacre. It ended when Lanza killed himself with the approaching sound of police sirens.