Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has repeated his claims that the families of the 26 children and teachers killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting are part of liberal plot to destroy him.
“I think this is a Deep State situation,” Jones told jurors on Thursday during his civil trial in Waterbury, Connecticut.
When pressed on whether his credibility was the most important thing to him, he replied: “No, crushing the globalists."
It was Jones's first appearance inside the courtroom as the trial nears the end of its second week.
A lawyer representing the families presented a video from his Infowars show in which he called the mass shooting “phoney as a three-dollar bill” and called the victims' parents “crisis actors”.
“Mr Jones, if someone were to falsely claim that a group of families who had lost loved ones were actors and had faked the deaths of their loved ones, that would be a horrible thing to say, correct?” prosecutor Christopher Mattei asked before showing the video.
“In the context, it could be, yes,” Jones replied.
-
-
A police officer leads two women and a child from Sandy Hook Elementary School. Shannon Hicks / AP Photo/Newtown Bee. -
The latest attack comes less than two weeks before Christmas. It appeared to be the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. Alex von Kleydorff / AP -
A woman weeps as she arrives to pick up her children. AP -
A candlelight vigil in Times Square, for the victims. Carlo Allegri / Reuters -
The families of victims grieve. Adrees Latif / Reuters -
The latest attack comes less than two weeks before Christmas. It appeared to be the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. Andrew Gombert / AP -
A woman waits to hear about her sister, a teacher. Jessica Hill / AP
Jones was found liable last year by default for damages to the families after he failed to turn over documents to their lawyers.
The Connecticut jury must now determine how much Infowars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, must pay for defaming them.
On Wednesday, Jones called the proceedings a “travesty of justice” and the judge a “tyrant”. He made similar remarks before he walked into the courthouse on Thursday.
“This is not really a trial,” he said. “This is a show trial, a literal kangaroo court.”
This is the second of three trials that Jones must face for his fabricated Sandy Hook claims.
A Texas jury last month decided that he must pay the parents of Jesse Lewis, 6, a boy killed in the 2012 shooting, $45.2 million in punitive damages and another $4.1m in compensatory damages for claiming the shooting was a hoax.
Associated Press contributed to this report
