HARTFORD -- The families of two children slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre have filed lawsuits against right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for claiming the shooting did not happen.
The defamation lawsuits were filed in Texas. That's the home state of Jones' media company, Infowars.
Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, the parents of Noah Pozner, filed separate lawsuits seeking more than $1 in damages.
Jesse and Noah were among the 20 first-grade students gunned down inside the school in Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012. Six educators were also killed.
The lawsuits allege that Jones' insistence that the shooting was staged led others to make death threats against the victims' families.
Mark Bankston, the lawyer for the families, said in a statement,
"Our firm is honored to help these parents fight back against the most disgusting act of defamation in the history of American media. The lawsuits address specific accusations made by Mr. Jones and InfoWars in 2017 that our clients were participants in a sinister cover-up at Sandy Hook. Those statements in 2017 were part of a long history of lies peddled by Jones. Our clients have been tormented for five years by Mr. Jones’ ghoulish accusations that they are actors who faked their children’s deaths as part of a fraud on the American people. Enough is enough.These lawsuits are not about the First Amendment. These lawsuits are about Mr. Jones’ disgusting lies. In all our years of helping families who have lost loved ones under horrific circumstances, we have never seen victims subjected to this kind of malicious cruelty. Their pain is unfathomable."
Jones has responded to the families of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School students who have filed lawsuits against him for claiming the shooting didn't happen.
Jones said Tuesday in a YouTube video that the families are being used by the Democratic Party and the news media, and that he believes Sandy Hook "really happened."
In the video, Jones invited parents who lost their children to his show to have a "real discussion" about guns. He also says he believes the lawsuits will be thrown out.
The defamation lawsuits were filed by the parents in Texas, the home state of Jones' media company, Infowars. The lawsuits allege that Jones' insistence that the shooting was staged led others to make death threats against the victims' families.