Alex Jones to ask for dismissal of Sandy Hook defamation lawsuit

Infowars founder Alex Jones on Wednesday will ask a court to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against him and his website that was filed by the parents of two children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, according to Reuters.

Court documents show that lawyers for Jones will ask a Texas court to dismiss the suit. The parents of the slain children are accusing the conspiracy theorist of slander, according to the report. 

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Reuters notes that Jones is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed under a Texas law that is intended to protect free speech rights against unwarranted attacks. 

Leonard Pozner, Veronique De La Rosa and Neil Heslin filed lawsuits in April seeking at least $1 million in damages from Jones, Infowars and Free Speech Systems LLC.

Court documents show that they say Jones has continually repeated false claims that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged and that the parents were involved in a cover-up, according to Reuters. 

A hearing for the first of the Texas lawsuits is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

In addition to the lawsuit filed in Texas, Jones is attempting to have a defamation suit filed against him in Connecticut by multiple families dismissed.

The Associated Press reported in late July that lawyers for Jones argued he was acting as a journalist in his coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting and compared him to esteemed journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. 

“Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein relied on allegations from ‘Deep Throat’ to link the Nixon Administration to the Watergate break-in,” Jones’s lawyers wrote in filing for a dismissal, according to the AP.

“Such journalism, questioning official narratives, would be chilled if reporters were subject to liability if they turned out to be wrong.”

Jones has repeatedly produced conspiracy theories related to the Sandy Hook shooting, which occurred on Dec. 14, 2012. 

“I’ve watched a lot of soap operas, and I’ve seen actors before,” Jones said in 2016. “And I know when I’m watching a movie and when I’m watching something real.”