The father of a 6-year-old boy killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting testified Tuesday that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his life “A Living hell” by pushing claims that the murders have been a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control.
In more than an hour of emotional testimony, at some point of which he frequently fought back the tears, Neil Heslin stated he had endured online abuse, anonymous phone calls and harassment on the street.
What was said about me and Sandy Hook itself resonates across the world,” Heslin stated. “As time passed, I truly discovered how risky it became. … My life is under threat. I worry for my life. I worry for my safety.”
Heslin stated his home and car had been shot at, and his attorneys said Monday that the family had an “encounter” in Austin after the trial commenced in the city and had been in isolation under security.
Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the dad and mom of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, have sued Jones and his media company Free Speech Systems over the harassment and threats they and other parents say they have endured for years due to Jones and his Infowars website. Jones claimed the 2012 attack that killed 20 first-graders and six staff at the Connecticut college was a hoax or faked.
The couple is seeking at least $150 million in the case.
Today is significant to me, and it has been a long-term coming … to see and face Alex Jones for what he said and did to me. To restore the respect and legacy of my son,” Heslin stated.
Heslin additionally stated that even as he doesn’t know if the Sandy Hook hoax idea originated with Jones, it was Jones who “lit the match and started the fire” with an online platform and broadcast that reached hundreds of thousands worldwide.
Heslin informed the jury about holding his son with a bullet hole in his head, even describing the quantity of the harm to his son’s body. A vital case section is a 2017 Infowars broadcast that stated Heslin did not hold his son’s body.
He stated that an apology from Jones would not be good enough at this point.
“Alex started this fight,” Heslin stated, “and I’ll end this fight.”
Jones wasn’t in court for the duration of Heslin’s testimony, a move the father called “cowardly.” Jones skipped much of the testimony during the two-week trial and had a cadre of bodyguards in the court docket when he did attend. Tuesday became the final scheduled day for testimony, and Jones was expected to take the stand as the only witness in his defence.
Scarlett Lewis was also known as to the witness stand Tuesday. She spoke much of her testimony directly at Jones, who had arrived in the court docket.
“I am a mom first and foremost, and I recognize you’re a father,” Lewis stated. “My son existed … I know you recognize that.”
Heslin and Lewis suffer from post-traumatic pressure disease that comes from chronic trauma.
Jones has made it look like the lawsuit against him is an attack on his First Amendment rights.
At stake in the trial is how much Jones can pay. The dad and mom have requested the jury to award $150 million in compensation for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress they have been through. The jury will then consider whether or not Jones and his company will pay punitive damages.
